Image decoding device

ABSTRACT

In generation of a wedgelet pattern, all the patterns are generated through a line segment drawing process and a region filling process. Therefore, there is a problem that a processing amount is large. 
     A moving image decoding device ( 1 ) includes: a wedgelet pattern generation section ( 145 T 4 ) that generates a wedge pattern; a rotation pattern generation section ( 1465 ) that derives a rotation pattern by rotating the wedge pattern; a pattern storage section ( 1464 ) that adds the rotation pattern to a wedge pattern table; and a DC prediction value derivation section ( 145 T 3 ) that derives a prediction value of each region partitioned in the wedge pattern included in the wedge pattern table ( 145 T 5 ).

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an image decoding device decoding codeddata indicating an image and an image coding device generating codeddata by coding an image.

BACKGROUND ART

In image coding technologies for a plurality of viewpoints, disparityprediction coding of reducing the amount of information by predictingdisparity between images at the time of coding of images of a pluralityof viewpoints and decoding methods corresponding to the coding methodshave been proposed. A vector indicating disparity between viewpointimages is referred to as a disparity vector. A disparity vector is a2-dimensional vector that has a component (x component) in thehorizontal direction and a component (y component) in the verticaldirection and is calculated for each block which is a region obtained bypartitioning one image. To acquire images of a plurality of viewpoints,it is general to use cameras disposed at viewpoints. In coding for aplurality of viewpoints, viewpoint images are coded as different layersin a plurality of layers. A coding method for a moving image formed in aplurality of layers is generally referred to as scalable coding orhierarchical coding. In scalable coding, high coding efficiency isrealized by executing prediction between layers. A layer which does notexecute prediction between layers and serves as a standard is referredto as a base layer and other layers are referred to as enhancementlayers. Scalable coding in a case in which layers are formed fromviewpoint images is referred to as view scalable coding. At this time, abase layer is also referred to as a base view and an enhancement layeris also referred to as a non-base view. Further, scalable coding in acase in which layers are formed as a texture layer (image layer) oftextures (images) and a depth layer (distance image layer) of a depthmap (distance image) in addition to view scalable is referred to as3-dimensional scalable coding.

For example, NPL 1 discloses a 3-dimensional scalable coding technologyof an HEVC base. In NPL 1, in order to code a depth map efficiently,there is a depth coding tool such as depth modeling mode (DMM)prediction (also referred to as depth intra prediction) or segment-wiseDC (SDC) coding.

The segment-wise DC coding is a technology for coding predictionresidual DC information indicating an average (DC) value of predictionresidual without performing frequency conversion and inversequantization on the prediction residual for each region or everyplurality of regions in a target block on a depth map.

Basically, the DMM prediction is based on a depth model in which atarget block on a depth map (also referred to as a depth block) isconfigured by two nonrectangular flat regions and in which a depth valueof each flat region is expressed with a fixed value. The depth model isconfigured by partition information indicating a region to which eachpixel belongs and depth value information regarding each region.

In the DMM prediction, there are wedgelet partition and contourpartition. In NPL 1, in the DMM 1 prediction, a partition pattern (awedge pattern or a wedgelet pattern) of the wedgelet partition isretained in a lookup table defined in advance for each block size and awedge pattern designated by an identifier (a wedge pattern indexwedge_full_tab_idx) designating a partition pattern is selected. Thereis a technology for partitioning a depth block into two regions based onthe selected wedge pattern and predicting a prediction value forrestoring a depth value of each region based on a depth prediction valuepredicted from a peripheral pixel in each of the partitioned regions anddepth value information for correcting the depth prediction value.

The depth value information of each region in the DMM prediction andprediction residual DC information of each region in the segment-wise DCcoding are collectively referred to as DC offset information. In NPL 1,coding is performed using a common syntax (depth_dc_flag, depth_ dc_abs,and depth_dc_sign_flag).

CITATION LIST Non Patent Literature

-   NPL 1: G. Tech, K. Wegner, Y. Chen, S. Yea, “3D-HEVC Draft Text 5”,    JCT3V-I1001_v3, JCT-3V 9th Meeting: Sapporo, JP, 3 to 9 Jul. 2014    (disclosed on 13 Aug. 2014)

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

In generation of a wedge pattern in NPL 1, all the patterns aregenerated through a line segment drawing process and a region fillingprocess. Therefore, there is a problem that a process amount is large.Further, there is a problem that a memory size is large when a blocksize is virtually doubled horizontally and vertically and wedge patternsare generated. Furthermore, in a case in which all of the wedge patternsare stored, there is a problem that a storage processing amount is largesince matching comparison of the wedge patterns is performed.

Solution to Problem

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided an imagedecoding device decoding an image and including a wedge patterngeneration section that generates a wedge pattern; a rotation patterngeneration section that derives a rotation pattern by rotating the wedgepattern; a pattern storage section that adds the rotation pattern to awedge pattern table; and a DC prediction value derivation section thatderives a prediction value of each region partitioned in the wedgepattern included in the wedge pattern table.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

A wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 according to an embodimentdoes not generate all the wedge patterns through a line segment drawingprocess and a region filling process performed using a line segmentdrawing section 1462 and a region filling section 1463, but generatessome of the wedge patterns through a rotation process performed usingthe rotation pattern generation section 1565. Since the line segmentdrawing process and the region filling process in which a processingamount is large are substituted with a rotation process in which theprocessing amount is small, the advantageous effect of reducing theprocesses is obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the detailed configuration of aDMM prediction section according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an imagetransmission system according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a schematicconfiguration of a moving image decoding device according to theembodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure of coded datagenerated by a moving image coding device and decoded by the movingimage decoding device according to the embodiment of the presentinvention, FIG. 4(a) illustrates a sequence layer that defines asequence SEQ, FIG. 4(b) illustrates a picture layer that defines apicture PICT, FIG. 4(c) illustrates a slice layer that defines a sliceS, FIG. 4(d) illustrates a tree block layer that defines a tree blockincluded in slice data, and FIG. 4(e) illustrates a coding unit layer(CU layer) that defines a coding unit (CU) included in the coding treeunit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a syntax included in theCU layer, FIG. 5(a) illustrates an example of a syntax table related tointra CU, and FIG. 5(b) illustrates an example of a syntax table relatedto intra-prediction mode extension.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a syntax related to DCoffset information included in the CU layer.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a prediction mode numbercorresponding to classification of intra prediction method used in themoving image decoding device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a prediction direction corresponding toan identifier of a prediction mode in 33 types of prediction modesbelonging to directional prediction.

FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of theconfiguration of a predicted image generation section included in themoving image decoding device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a schematic predicted imagegeneration process in a CU unit in the predicted image generationsection.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating schematic DMM prediction, FIG. 11(a)illustrates an example of an edge boundary of an object on a block, FIG.11(b) illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern (wedgePattern) whichis a partition pattern indicating that the block is partitioned into tworegions (P1 and P2) along the edge boundary of the object, and FIG.11(c) illustrates an example in which prediction values are allocated tothe partitioned regions.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a method of generating the wedgeletpattern based on wedgelet partition (DMM 1) in the DMM prediction, FIG.12(a) illustrates an example of a starting point S and an ending point Eon a block, FIG. 12(b) illustrates an example of a line segmentconnecting the starting point S and the ending point E, FIG. 12(c)illustrates an example of filling of regions partitioned by a linesegment, and FIG. 12(d) illustrates an example of a wedge rate pattern.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating examples of other wedgelet patterns ina wedge orientation wedgeOri (wedgeOri=0 to 5) generated in a wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4 in DMM 1 prediction, FIG. 13(a)illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=0, FIG. 13(b)illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=1, FIG. 13(c)illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=2, FIG. 13(d)illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=3, FIG. 13(e)illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=4, and FIG.13(f) illustrates an example of a wedgelet pattern of wedgeOri=5.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a wedgelet pattern generationprocess in the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a pattern storagesection 1464.

FIG. 19 is a table illustrating parameters used to generate basicpatterns and generate rotation patterns.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a relation between virtual coordinates(posX, posY) and a pattern according to the embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a region fillingsection 1463 according to the embodiment and illustrating a process in afirst basic pattern.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4′.

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ according to the embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an operation of a rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ according to the embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a pattern storagesection 1464′ included in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4′.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a pattern storagesection 1464″ included in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4″.

FIG. 28 is another example of a flowchart illustrating the wedgeletpattern generation process in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4 according to the embodiment and illustrating a case in which afirst basic pattern is generated after a second basic pattern.

FIG. 29 is a functional block diagram illustrating the configuration ofa moving image coding device according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4B according to the embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4B according to theembodiment.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4B according to the embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[Overview]

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the configuration of an imagetransmission system 5 according to the embodiment.

The image transmission system 5 is a system that transmits codesobtained by coding a plurality of layer images and displays imagesobtained by decoding the transmitted codes. The image transmissionsystem 5 is configured to include an image coding device 2, a network 3,an image decoding device 2, and an image display device 4.

Signals T indicating a plurality of layer images (also referred to astexture images) are input to the image coding device 2. The layer imagesare images viewed or captured at certain resolutions and certainviewpoints. In a case in which view scalable coding of coding a3-dimensional image using a plurality of layer images is executed, eachof the plurality of layer images is referred to as a viewpoint image.Here, the viewpoint corresponds to an observation point or the positionof an imaging device. For example, a plurality of viewpoint images areimages obtained when right and left imaging devices image a subject. Theimage coding device 2 codes the signals to generate coded data #1. Thedetails of the coded data #1 will be described later. The viewpointimage is a 2-dimensional image (planar image) observed at a certainviewpoint. The viewpoint image is expressed with, for example, aluminance value or a color signal value of each of the pixels arrayed ina 2-dimensional plane.

Hereinafter, one viewpoint image or a signal indicating the viewpointimage is referred to as a picture. In the embodiment, coding anddecoding of images including at least a base layer image and images(enhancement layer images) other than the base layer image as aplurality of layer images are treated. An image on a referred side intwo layers having a reference relation (dependency relation) in imagesor coding parameters among a plurality of layers is referred to as afirst layer image and an image on a referring side is referred to as asecond layer image. For example, in a case in which there is anenhancement layer image (other than a base layer) coded referring to thebase layer, the base layer image is treated as the first layer image andan enhancement layer image is treated as a second layer image. As anexample of the enhancement layer image, there is a viewpoint image or adepth image other than a base view.

For example, a viewpoint image is indicated by a luminance value or acolor signal value for each of the pixels disposed in a 2-dimensionalplane. A depth image (also referred to as a depth map, a “depth image”,or a “distance image”) is a signal value (referred to as a “depth value”or a “depth”) corresponding to a distance of a subject or a backgroundcontained in an object plane from a viewpoint (an imaging device or thelike) and is an image signal formed from a signal value (pixel value) ofeach of the pixels arrayed in a 2-dimensional plane. The pixels forminga depth map correspond to the pixels forming a viewpoint image.Accordingly, the depth map serves as a clue for expressing a3-dimensional object plane using a viewpoint image which is an imagesignal serving as a standard in which an object plane is projected to a2-dimensional plane.

The network 3 transmits the coded data #1 generated by the image codingdevice 2 to the image decoding device 1. The network 3 is the Internet,a wide area network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), or a combinationthereof. The network 3 is not necessarily limited to a bi-directionalcommunication network, but may be a uni-directional or bi-directionalcommunication network in which broadcast waves of terrestrial digitalbroadcast or satellite broadcast are transmitted. The network 3 may besubstituted with a storage medium that stores the coded data #1, such asa digital versatile disc (DVD) or a Blue-ray (BD) disc.

The image decoding device 1 decodes the coded data #1 transmitted by thenetwork 3 to generate a plurality of decoded layer images Td (decodedviewpoint images TexturePic and a decoded depth map DepthPic) andoutputs the decoded data.

The image display device 4 displays some or all of the plurality ofdecoded layer images Td generated by the image decoding device 1. Forexample, in the view scalable coding, in the case in which all of thedecoded layer images are displayed, 3-dimensional images (stereoscopicimages) or free viewpoint images are displayed. In the case in whichsome of the decoded layer images are displayed, 2-dimensional images aredisplayed. The image display device 4 includes, for example, a displaydevice such as a liquid crystal display or an organicelectro-luminescence (EL) display. In the spatial scalable coding andthe SNR scalable coding, in a case in which the image decoding device 1and the image display device 4 have a high processing capability,enhancement layer images with high quality are displayed. In a case inwhich the image decoding device 1 and the image display device 4 have alower processing capability, base layer images for which a highprocessing capability or display capability is not necessary in anenhancement layer are displayed.

For example, a viewpoint image is indicated by a luminance value or acolor signal value for each of the pixels disposed in a 2-dimensionalplane. A depth image (also referred to as a depth map, a “depth image”,or a “distance image”) is a signal value (referred to as a “depth value”or a “depth”) corresponding to a distance of a subject or a backgroundcontained in an object plane from a viewpoint (an imaging device or thelike) and is an image signal formed from a signal value (pixel value) ofeach of the pixels arrayed in a 2-dimensional plane. The pixels forminga depth map correspond to the pixels forming a viewpoint image.Accordingly, the depth map serves as a clue for expressing a3-dimensional object plane using a viewpoint image which is an imagesignal serving as a standard in which an object plane is projected to a2-dimensional plane.

Hereinafter, the image decoding device 1 and the image coding device 2according to an embodiment of the invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 32. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagramillustrating a schematic configuration of the image decoding device 1.

The coded data #1 obtained when the moving image coding device 2 codes alayer image (one viewpoint image TexturePic or a plurality of viewpointimages TexturePic and a depth map DepthPic of the same timecorresponding to the viewpoint image TexturePic) is input to the movingimage decoding device 1. The moving image decoding device 1 decodes theinput coded data #1 and outputs layer image #2 (one viewpoint imageTexturePic or a plurality of viewpoint images TexturePic and the depthmap (DepthPic) of the same time corresponding to the viewpoint imageTexturePic) to the outside. The structure of the coded data #1 will bedescribed below before detailed description of the moving image decodingdevice 1.

[Structure of Coded Data]

An example of the structure of the coded data #1 generated by the movingimage coding device 2 and decoded by the moving image decoding device 1will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The coded data #1 includes asequence and a plurality of pictures included in the sequence, forexample.

The structure of hierarchy of the sequence layer and the lower layers inthe coded data #1 is illustrated in FIG. 4. FIGS. 4(a) to 4(e) arediagrams illustrating a sequence layer that defines a sequence SEQ, apicture layer that defines a picture PICT, a slice layer that defines aslice S, a slice data layer that defines slice data, and a coding unitlayer that defines a coding unit (CU) included in the coding tree,respectively.

(Sequence Layer)

In the sequence layer, a set of data referred to by the moving imagedecoding device 1 is defined to decode a processing target sequence SEQ(hereinafter also referred to as a target sequence). As illustrated inFIG. 4(a), the sequence SEQ includes a video parameter set, a sequenceparameter set SPS, a picture parameter set PPS, pictures PICT, andsupplemental enhancement information SEI. Here, a value shown after #indicates a layer ID. FIG. 4 illustrates an example in which there arecoded data of #0 and #1, that is, layers 0 and 1, but the types oflayers and the number of layers are not limited thereto.

The video parameter set VPS defines a set of coding parameters common toa plurality of moving images in regard to a moving image formed by aplurality of layers and a set of coding parameters related to theplurality of layers included in the moving image and the individuallayer.

The sequence parameter set SPS defines a set of coding parametersreferred to by the moving image decoding device 1 to decode a targetsequence. For example, the width or height of a picture is defined.

In the picture parameter set PPS, a set of coding parameters referred toby the moving image decoding device 1 is defined to decode each picturein the target sequence. For example, a standard value(pic_init_qp_minus26) of a quantization width used to decode a pictureor a flag (weighted_pred_flag) indicating application to weightedprediction. There are the plurality of PPSs. In this case, one of theplurality of PPSs is selected from the pictures in the target sequence.

(Picture Layer)

In the picture layer, a set of data referred to by the moving imagedecoding device 1 is defined to decode a processing target picture PICT(hereafter also referred to as a target picture). As illustrated in FIG.4(b), the picture PICT includes slices S₁ to S_(NS) (where NS is a totalnumber of slices included in the picture PICT).

In a case in which it is not necessary to distinguish the slices S₁ toS_(NS) from each other, the slices are sometimes described below byomitting the subscripts of the codes. The same also applies to datawhich is data included in the coded data #1 to be described below and isother data to which subscripts are appended.

(Slice Layer)

In the slice layer, a set of data which is referred to by the movingimage decoding device 1 to decode a processing target slice S (a slicesegment also referred to as a target slice) is defined. As illustratedin FIG. 4(c), the slice S includes a slice header SH and slice dataSDATA.

The slice header SH includes a coding parameter group which is referredto by the moving image decoding device 1 to decide a target slicedecoding method. Slice type designation information (slice_type)designating a type of slice is an example of a coding parameter includedin the slice header SH.

As the types of slices which can be designated by the slice typedesignation information, (1) an I slice in which only intra-predictionis used at the time of coding, (2) a P slice in which uni-directionalprediction or intra-prediction are used at the time of coding, and (3) aB slice in which uni-directional prediction, bi-directional prediction,or intra-prediction is used at the time of coding can be exemplified.

The slice data SDATA includes one tree block or a plurality of treeblocks TBLK₁ to TBLK_(NC) (where NC is a total number of tree blocksincluded in the slice data SDATA).

(Tree Block Layer)

In the tree block layer, a set of data referred to by the moving imagedecoding device 1 is defined to decode a processing target tree blockTBLK (hereinafter referred to as a target tree block).

The tree block TBLK includes a tree block header TBLKH and coding unitinformation CU₁ to CU_(NL) (where NL is a total number of pieces ofcoding unit information included in the tree block TBLK). First, arelation between the tree block TBLK and the coding unit information CUwill be described here below.

The tree block TBLK is partitioned into intra-prediction orinter-prediction and a unit for specifying a block size for each processof transform.

The foregoing unit of the tree block TBLK is partitioned by recursivequadtree partition. A tree structure obtained by the recursive quadtreepartition is referred to as a coding tree below.

Hereinafter, a unit corresponding to a leaf which is a node at thetermination of the coding tree is referred as a coding node. Since thecoding node is a basic unit of a coding process, the coding node is alsoreferred to as a coding unit (CU).

That is, the pieces of coding unit information (hereinafter referred toas CU information) CU₁ to CU_(NL) are information corresponding tocoding nodes (coding units) obtained by executing the recursive quadtreepartition on the tree block TBLK.

The root of the coding tree is associated with the tree block TBLK. Inother words, the tree block TBLK is associated with the most significantnode of the tree structure of the quadtree partition recursivelyincluding a plurality of coding nodes.

The size of each coding node is half of the horizontal and verticalsizes of a coding node to which the coding node directly belongs (thatis, a unit of an immediately upper node of this coding node).

(Tree Block Header)

The tree block header TBLKH includes a coding parameter which isreferred to by the moving image decoding device 1 to decide a method ofdecoding a target tree block. Specifically, as illustrated in FIG. 4(d),the tree block header TBLKH includes tree block partition informationSP_TBLK for designating a partition pattern of the target tree blockinto each CU and a quantization parameter difference Δqp (qp_delta) fordesignating the magnitude of a quantization step.

The tree block partition information SP_TBLK is information indicating acoding tree for partitioning a tree block. Specifically, the tree blockpartition information SP_TBLK is information for designating the shapeand size of each CU included in the target tree block and the positionof each CU in the target tree block.

The quantization parameter difference Δqp is a difference qp−qp′ betweena quantization parameter qp in a target tree block and a quantizationparameter qp′ in a tree block coded immediately before the target treeblock.

(CU Layer)

In the CU layer, a set of data referred to by the moving image decodingdevice 1 is defined to decode a processing target CU (hereinafterreferred to as a target CU).

Here, a tree structure of data included in the CU will be describedbefore description of detailed content of the data included in CUinformation CU. The coding node is a node of the root of a predictiontree (PT) and a transform tree (TT). The prediction tree and thetransform tree will be described below.

In the prediction tree, the coding node is partitioned in to oneprediction block or a plurality of prediction blocks and the positionand size of each prediction block are defined.

The prediction process is executed for each prediction block.Hereinafter, the prediction block which is a unit of prediction isreferred to as a prediction unit (PU).

There are two types of partition in the prediction tree in the case ofintra-prediction and the case of inter-prediction. In the case ofintra-prediction, there are 2N×2N (which is the same size of the codingnode) and N×N partition methods. In the case of inter-prediction, thereare 2N×2N (which is the same size of the coding node), 2N×N, N×2N, andN×N partition methods.

In the transform tree, the coding node is partitioned into one transformblock or a plurality of transform blocks and the position and size ofeach transform block are defined.

A transform process is executed for each transform block. Hereinafter,the transform block which is a unit of transform is referred to as atransform unit (TU).

(Data Structure of CU Information)

Next, specific content of data included in the CU information CU will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 4(e). As illustrated in FIG. 4(e),specifically, the CU information CU includes a skip flag SKIP, PTinformation PTI, and TT information TTI.

The skip flag SKIP is a flag indicating whether a skip mode is appliedto a target PU. In a case in which a value of the skip flag SKIP is 1,that is, a case in which the skip mode is applied to the target CU, thePT information PTI and the TT information TTI in the CU information CUare omitted.

The PT information PTI is information regarding the PT included in theCU. The PT information PTI includes prediction type information PTypeand prediction information PInfo, as illustrated in FIG. 4(d).

The prediction type information PType (or CuPredMode) is information fordesignating use of the intra-prediction or use of the inter-prediction.For example, in a case in which the intra-prediction is used, theprediction type information CuPredMode is set in MODE INTRA indicatingthe intra-prediction. In a case in which the inter-prediction is used,the prediction type information CuPredMode is set in MODE_INTERindicating the intra-prediction. CU to which the intra-prediction isapplied is referred to as an intra-CU and CU to which the inter-CU isapplied is referred to as an inter-CU.

The prediction information PInfo is configured by intra-predictioninformation or inter-prediction information according to whichprediction method is designated by the prediction type informationPType. Hereinafter, the PU applied to the intra-prediction is referredto as an intra-PU and the PU applied to the inter-prediction is referredto as an inter-PU.

The prediction information PInfo includes information for designatingthe shape, size, and position of the target PU. As described above, apredicted image is generated using the PU as a unit. The details of theprediction information PInfo will be described later.

The TT information TTI is information regarding the TT included in theCU. In other words, the TT information TTI is a set of informationregarding one TU or the plurality of TUs included in the TT and isreferred to when residual data is decoded by the moving image decodingdevice 1. Hereinafter, the TU is referred to as a transform block insome cases.

As illustrated in FIG. 4(d), the TT information TTI includes TTpartition information SP_TU for designating a partition pattern of thetarget CU into transform blocks and pieces of TU information TUI₁ toTUI_(NT) (where NT is a total number of transform blocks included in thetarget CU).

Specifically, the TT partition information SP_TU is information fordeciding the shape and size of each TU included in the target CU and theposition of the TU in the target CU. For example, the TT partitioninformation SP_TU can be realized from information(split_transform_unit_flag) indicating whether a target node ispartitioned and information (trafoDepth) indicating depth of thepartition.

The TU partition information SP_TU includes information indicatingwhether there is a non-zero transform coefficient in each TU. Forexample, for information (CBP: Coded Block Flag) indicating whetherthere is the non-zero coefficient in the individual TU, CBF regardingluminance luma is referred to as cbf_luma, CBF regarding chroma Cb isreferred to as cbf_cb, and CBF regarding chroma Cr is referred to ascbf_cr for each color space. Further, information (also referred to asrqt_root_flag or no_residual_data_flag) indicating whether there is thenon-zero coefficient in the plurality of TUs is included in the TUpartition information SP_TU. Instead of coding the non-zero transformcoefficient in each TU, an SDC flag sdc_flag indicating whetherprediction residual DC information (DC offset information) indicating anaverage (DC) value of prediction residuals (segment-wise DC coding isperformed) is coded is included in each region or every plurality ofregions in the TU. The segment-wise DC coding is also referred to assegment-wise DC coding (SDC). In particular, the segment-wise DC codingin the intra-prediction is referred to as intra-SDC and the segment-wiseDC coding in the inter-prediction is referred to as inter-SDC. In a casein which the segment-wise DC coding is applied, the CU size, the PUsize, and the TU size may be the same as each other.

The pieces of TU information TUI₁ to TUI_(NT) are individual informationregarding one TU or the plurality of TUs included in the TT. Forexample, the TU information TUI includes a quantization predictionresidual.

Each quantization prediction residual is coded data that is generatedwhen the moving image coding device 2 executes the following process Aor B on a target block which is a processing target block.

(Process A: Case in which Frequency Conversion and Quantization isPerformed)

Process A-1: a prediction residual obtained by subtracting a predictedimage from a coding target image is subjected to discrete cosinetransform (DCT transform);

Process A-2: a transform coefficient obtained in the process A-1 isquantized; and

Process A-3: the transform coefficient quantized in the process A-2 issubjected to variable-length coding. The above-described quantizationparameter qp indicates the magnitude of the quantization step QP usedwhen the moving image coding device 2 quantizes the transformcoefficient (QP=2qp/6).

(Process B: Case of Segment-Wise DC Coding (SDC))

Process B-1: an average value (DC value) of the prediction residualobtained by subtracting the predicted image from the coding target imageis calculated.

Process B-2: the DC value obtained in process B-1 is subjected to thevariable-length coding.

In particular, the segment-wise DC coding performed on the DC value isreferred to as segment-wise DC coding (SDC) and is effective in codingof a prediction residual of a flat region. For example, in coding of thedepth map, the depth block coding is used to code the predictionresidual of one partitioned region or a plurality of partitionedregions.

(Prediction Information PInfo)

As described above, as the prediction information PInfo, there are twotypes of inter-prediction information and intra-prediction information.

The inter-prediction information includes a coding parameter referred towhen the moving image decoding device 1 generates an inter-predictedimage through the inter-prediction. More specifically, theinter-prediction information includes inter-PU partition information fordesignating the partition pattern of the target CU into inter-PUs and aninter-prediction parameter of each inter-PU.

The inter-prediction parameter includes a reference image index, anestimation motion vector index, and a motion vector residual.

On the other hand, the intra-prediction information includes a codingparameter referred to when the moving image decoding device 1 generatesan intra-predicted image through the intra-prediction. Morespecifically, the intra-prediction information includes intra-PUpartition information for designating the partition pattern of thetarget CU into intra-PUs and an intra-prediction parameter of eachintra-PU. The intra-prediction parameter is a parameter for restoringintra-prediction (prediction mode) of each intra-PU.

Parameters (intra-prediction parameters) related to the intra-prediction(DC prediction, planar prediction, and angular prediction) commonly usedto code depth map DepthPic and a texture TexturePic include mpm_flagwhich is a flag related to most probable mode (MPM, the same appliesbelow), mpm_idx which is an index for selecting the MPM, and rem_idxwhich is an index (residual prediction mode index) for designating theprediction mode other than the MPM. Further, mpm_flag and rem_idxcorrespond to “prev_intra_luma_pred_flag” (SYN02 of FIG. 5(a)) and“rem_intra_luma_pred_mode” (SYN03 of FIG. 5(a)) in NPL 1. In addition,chroma mode corresponds to “intra_chroma_pred_mode” (not illustrated).

As parameters (a depth intra-prediction parameter and DMM predictionmode information) for restoring a prediction mode (an intra-extensionmode (SYN01 of FIG. 5(a))) related to the depth intra-prediction (DMMprediction) used to code the depth map, there are a flag (depthintra-prediction presence or absence flag) dim_not_present_flag (SYN01Aof FIG. 5(b)) indicating presence or absence of the depthintra-prediction and an index (wedge pattern index) wedge_full_tab_idex(SYN01C of FIG. 5(b)) for designating the wedge pattern indicating thepartition pattern in the PU in the DMM 1 prediction.

As the intra-SDC, the inter-SDC, and the prediction parameters for thedepth intra-prediction, there is DC offset information for correctingdepth prediction values of one region or two regions partitioned in thePU, that is, a DC offset presence or absence flag depth_dc_flag (SYND1of FIG. 6), depth_dc_abs (SYND02 of FIG. 6) indicating the absolutevalue of the DC offset value, and depth_dc_sign_flag (SYND03 of FIG. 6)indicating the sign of the DC offset value.

[Moving Image Decoding Device]

Hereinafter, the configuration of the moving image decoding device 1according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1to 28.

(Overview of Moving Image Decoding Device)

The moving image decoding device 1 generates a predicted image for eachPU, generates a decoded image #2 by adding the generated predicted imageand prediction residual decoded from the coded data #1, and outputs thegenerated decoded image #2 to the outside.

Here, the predicted image is generated with reference to codingparameters obtained by decoding the coded data #1. The coding parametersare parameters which are referred to generate the predicted image. Thecoding parameters include the size or shape of the PU, the size or shapeof a block, and residual data between an original image and thepredicted image in addition to a prediction parameter such as a motionvector referred to in the inter prediction or a prediction mode referredto in the intra-prediction. Hereinafter, a set of all pieces ofinformation among pieces of information included in the coded parametersexcluding the residual data is referred to as side information.

Hereinafter, a picture (frame), a slice, a tree block, a CU, a block anda PU to be decoded are referred to as a target picture, a target slice,a target tree block, a target CU, a target block, and a target PU,respectively.

The size of the tree block is, for example, 64×64 pixels, the size ofthe CU is, for example, 64×64 pixels. 32×32 pixels, 16×16 pixels, or 8×8pixels, and the size of the PU is, for example, 64×64 pixels. 32×32pixels, 16×16 pixels, 8×8 pixels, or 4×4 pixels. These sizes are merelyexamples, and thus the sizes of the tree block the CU, and the PU may besizes other than the above-mentioned sizes.

(Configuration of Moving Image Decoding Device)

Referring back to FIG. 3, a schematic configuration of the moving imagedecoding device 1 will be described below. FIG. 3 is a functional blockdiagram illustrating the schematic configuration of the moving imagedecoding device 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the moving image decoding device 1 includes avariable-length decoding section 11, an inverse quantization and inversetransform section 13, a predicted image generation section 14, anaddition section 15, and a frame memory 16.

[Variable-Length Decoding Section]

The variable-length decoding section 11 decodes various parametersincluded in the coded data #1 input from the moving image decodingdevice 1. In the following description, the variable-length decodingsection 11 is assumed to appropriately decode the parameters decoded byan entropy coding method such as CABAC. Specifically, thevariable-length decoding section 11 decodes the coded data #1 equivalentto one frame in the following procedure.

First, the variable-length decoding section 11 demultiplexes the codeddata #1 equivalent to one frame to separate the coded data #1 intovarious pieces of information included in the hierarchical structureillustrated in FIG. 4. For example, the variable-length decoding section11 sequentially separates the coded data #1 into the slices and the treeblocks with reference to information included in various headers.

Here, various headers include (1) information regarding a method ofpartitioning a target picture into slices and (2) information regardingthe size and shape of a tree block belonging to a target slice and theposition of the tree block in the target slice.

The variable-length decoding section 11 partitions the target tree blockinto the CUs with reference to the tree block partition informationSP_TBLK included in the tree block header TBLKH. The variable-lengthdecoding section 11 decodes the TT information TTI regarding thetransform tree obtained in regard to the target CU and the PTinformation PTI regarding the prediction tree obtained in regard to thetarget CU.

The variable-length decoding section 11 supplies the TT information TTIobtained in regard to the target CU to the TU information decodingsection 12. The variable-length decoding section 11 supplies the PTinformation PTI obtained in regard to the target CU to the predictedimage generation section 14. The TT information TTI includes the TUinformation TUI corresponding to the TU included in the transform tree,as described above. The PT information PTI includes the PU informationPUI (the prediction information Pinfo of each PU) corresponding to eachPU included in the target prediction tree, as described above.

Hereinafter, a schematic process of decoding the intra-predictionparameters included in the prediction information Pinfo of the deepintra PU according to the invention and the DC offset information usedfor the segment-wise DC coding (the intra-SDC and the inter-SDC) or thedepth intra-prediction will be described.

(Intra-Prediction Parameter)

The variable-length decoding section 11 decodes each syntax from thecoded data #1 according to a syntax table of an intra-prediction modeextension intra_mode_ext( ) shown in SYN01 of FIG. 5. In a decodingtarget layer, the intra-prediction mode extension intra_mode_ext( ) isdecoded in a case in which a flag (DMM 1 prediction mode enable flag)intra_sdc_dmm_wfull_flag indicating whether DMM 1 prediction in thedepth coding tool is performed is 1. In a case in which the DMM 1prediction mode enable flag intra_sdc_dimm_wfull_flag is 1, it isindicated that a DMM 1 prediction mode which is the depth coding tool isapplied in the decoding target layer. In a case in which the flagintra_sdc_dmm_wfull_flag is 0, it is indicated that the DMM 1 predictionmode which is the depth coding tool is not applied. The DMM 1 predictionmode enable flag is decoded from parameter sets (the video parameter setVPS, the sequence parameter set SPS, the picture parameter set PPS, andthe slice header SH) or the like.

First, the variable-length decoding section 11 decodes the depthintra-prediction presence or absence flag dim_not_present_flag (SYN01Aof FIG. 5(b)) in a case in which a target PU size is equal to or lessthan 32×32 (where log PbSize<6). In a case in which the target PU sizeis greater than 32×32, the value of the flag is estimated to be 1. In acase in which the flag is a flag indicating presence or absence of thedepth intra-prediction and the value of the flag is 1, it is indicatedthat the depth intra-prediction mode flag depth_intra_mode_flag relatedto the target PU is not present in the coded data and theintra-prediction method of one of intra-prediction mode numbers ‘0’ to‘34’ (the DC prediction, the planar prediction, and the angularprediction) is used for the target PU. In a case in which the flag is 0,it is indicated that the depth intra-prediction modedepth_intra_mode_flag is present in the coded data.

The variable-length decoding section 11 derives the DMM flag DmmFlag ofa target PU by the following formula based on the decoded depthintra-prediction presence or absence flag dim_not_present_flag.DmmFlag=!dim_not_present_flag.That is, the value of logical NOT of the depth intra-prediction presenceor absence flag is set in the DMM flag. In a case in which the DMM flagis 1, it is indicated that the depth intra-prediction is used. In a casein which the DMM flag is 0, it is indicated that the depthintra-prediction is not used.(Case in which Depth Intra-Prediction Presence or Absence Flag is 1)

In a case in which a depth intra-mode flag depth_intra_mode_flag is 0,that is, the depth intra-prediction is DMM 1 prediction, thevariable-length decoding section 11 sets a prediction mode numberindicating DMM 1 prediction in a prediction mode predModeIntra. Further,a wedge pattern index wedge_full_tab_idx for designating the wedgepattern indicating the partition pattern in the PU is decoded.

(Case in which Depth Intra-Prediction Presence or Absence Flag is 0)

In a case in which a depth intra-prediction presence or absence flagdim_not_present_flag is 0, the variable-length decoding section 11decodes an MPM flag mpm_flag indicating whether the intra-predictionmode of the target PU matches an estimation prediction mode MPM. In acase in which the MPM flag mpm_flag is 1, the MPM flag mpm_flagindicates that the intra-prediction mode of the target PU matches theestimation prediction mode MPM. In a case in which the MPM flag mpm_flagis 0, the MPM flag mpm_flag indicates that the intra-prediction mode isany prediction mode other than the estimation prediction mode MPM amongprediction mode numbers ‘0’ to ‘34’ (any one of the DC prediction, theplanar prediction, and the angular prediction).

In the case in which the MPM flag is 1, the variable-length decodingsection 11 further decodes the MPM index mpm_idx for designating theestimation prediction mode MPM and sets the estimation prediction modeindicated by the MPM index mpm_idx in the prediction mode predModeIntra.

In the case in which the MPM flag is 0, the variable-length decodingsection 11 further decodes an index rem_idx for designating a predictionmode other than the MPM flag and sets any prediction mode number amongprediction mode numbers ‘0’ to ‘34’ (any one of the DC prediction, theplanar prediction, and the angular prediction) other than the estimationprediction mode MPM specified from the index rem_idx in the predictionmode predModeIntra.

(DC Offset Information)

The variable-length decoding section 11 further includes a DC offsetinformation decoding section 111 (not illustrated). The DC offsetinformation decoding section 111 decodes the DC offset informationincluded in the target CU.

More specifically, the DC offset information decoding section 111derives a DC offset information presence or absence flagcuDepthDcPresentFlag of the CU indicating there the DC offsetinformation is present or absent in the target CU by the followingformula.

In a case in which cuDepthDcPresentFlag=(sdc_flag∥(CuPredMode==MODEINTRA)), that is, the SDC flag sdc_flag, is 1 or a prediction typeinformation CuPredMode is intra-prediction, the DC offset informationpresence or absence flag of the CU is set to 1 (true). In other cases(the SDC flag is 0 (false) or the case of the inter-prediction), the DCoffset information presence or absence flag of the CU is set to 0(false). In a case in which the DC offset information presence orabsence flag of the CU is 1, it is indicated that the DC offsetinformation in the target CU can be present. In a case in which the DCoffset information presence or absence flag of the CU is 0, it isindicated that the DC offset information in the target CU is notpresent.

Subsequently, in the case in which the DC offset information presence orabsence flag in the CU is 1, the DC offset information decoding section111 decodes the DC offset information to correct the depth predictionvalue of one partitioned region or the plurality of partitioned regionsin the PU for each PU of the target CU.

More specifically, the DC offset information decoding section 111 firstderives a DC offset information presence or absence flagpuDepthDcPresentFlag of the PU indicating whether the DC offsetinformation regarding the target PU is present by the following formula.puDepthDcPresentFlag=(DmmFlag∥sdc_flag).That is, in a case in which the DMM flag of the target PU is 1 or theSDC flag is 1, the DC offset information presence or absence flag in thePU is set to 1 (true). In other cases (DmmFlag==0 && sdc_flag==0), theDC offset information presence or absence flag is set to 0 (false). In acase in which the DC offset information flag in the PU is 1, it isindicated that the DC offset information is present in the target PU. Ina case in which the DC offset information flag is 0, it is indicatedthat the DC offset information is not present in the target PU.

The DC offset information decoding section 111 derives the number ofpartition regions dcNumSeg in the target PU by the following formulabased on the DMM flag of the target PU.

dcNumSeg=DmmFlag ? 2:1.

That is, in a case in which the DMM flag is 1, the number of partitionregions dcNumSeg in the target PU is set to 2. In a case in which theDMM flag is 0, the number of partition regions dcNumSeg in the target PUis set 1. X ? Y:Z is a three-term operator that selects Y in a case inwhich X is true (other than 0) and selects Z in a case in which X isfalse (0).

The DC offset information decoding section 111 derives a DC offset valueDcOffset[i] corresponding to a partition region Ri (where i=0 todcNumSeg−1) in each PU based on the DC offset information (the DC offsetinformation presence or absence flag depth_dc_flag, a DC offset absolutevalue depth_dc_abs[i], and a DC offset sign depth_dc_sign_flag[i]) andthe number of partition regions dcNumSeg by the following formula.DcOffset[i]=!depth_dc_offset_flag?0:(1−2*depth_dc_sign_flag[i])*(depth_dc_abs[i]+dcNumSeg−2).That is, in a case in which the DC offset information presence orabsence flag is 0, the DC offset value DcOffset[i] of the partitionregion Ri is set to 0. In a case in which the DC offset informationpresence or absence flag is 1, the DC offset value DcOffset[i] of thepartition region Ri is set based on depth_dc_sign_flag[i] anddepth_dc_abs[i], and the number of partition regions dcNumSeg.

The derivation formula for the DC offset value is not limited to theforegoing formula and can be changed within an executable range. Forexample, the DC offset value may be derived by the following formula.DcOffset[i]=(1−2*depth_dc_sign_flag[i])*(depth_dc_abs[i]+dcNumSeg−2).[Inverse Quantization and Inverse Transform Section]

The inverse quantization and inverse transform section 13 executes aninverse quantization and inverse transform process on each blockincluded in the target CU based on the TT information TTI. Specifically,the inverse quantization and inverse transform section 13 restores aprediction residual D (or resSamples[x][y]) of each pixel correspondingto the target TU by executing inverse quantization and inverseorthogonal transform of a quantization prediction residual included inthe TU information TUI corresponding to the target TU on each target TU.Here, orthogonal transform refers to orthogonal transform from a pixelregion to a frequency domain. Accordingly, inverse orthogonal transformis transform from a frequency domain to a pixel region. Examples of theinverse orthogonal transform include inverse discrete cosine transform(DCT) and inverse discrete sine transform (DST). The inversequantization and inverse transform section 13 supplies the restoredprediction residual D to the addition section 15. In a case in which theSDC flag is 1, the inverse quantization and inverse transform section 13omits the inverse quantization and inverse transform process, sets theprediction residual D (or resSamples[x][y]) of each pixel of the targetTU to 0, and supplies the prediction residual D to the addition section15.

[Predicted Image Generation Section]

The predicted image generation section 14 generates a predicted image inregard to each PU included in the target CU based on the PT informationPTI. Specifically, the predicted image generation section 14 generates apredicted image Fred from a local decoded image P′ which is an imageafter decoding by executing intra-prediction or inter-prediction on eachtarget PU according to the parameters included in the PU information PUI(prediction information Pinfo) corresponding to the target PU. Thepredicted image generation section 14 supplies the generated predictedimage Pred to the addition section 15. The configuration of thepredicted image generation section 14 will be described in more detaillater.

[Addition Section]

The addition section 15 generates a decoded image P in regard to thetarget CU by adding the predicted image Pred supplied from the predictedimage generation section 14 and the prediction residual D supplied fromthe inverse quantization and inverse transform section 13.

[Frame Memory]

The decoded images P which have been decoded are sequentially recordedon the frame memory 16. The decoded images corresponding to all of thetree blocks (for example, all of the tree blocks previous in a rasterscan procedure) decoded earlier than the target tree block are recordedat a time point at which the target tree block is decoded on the framememory 16.

At a time point at which the target CU is decoded, the decoded imagescorresponding to all of the CUs decoded earlier than the target CU arerecorded.

At a time point at which the decoded image generation process in thetree block unit ends in regard to all of the tree blocks in the image inthe moving image decoding device 1, the decoded image #2 correspondingto the coded data #1 input to the moving image decoding device 1 andcorresponding to an one input frame is output to the outside.

(Definition of Prediction Mode)

As described above, the predicted image generation section 14 generatesa predicted image based on the PT information PTI and outputs thepredicted image. In a case in which the target CU is an intra-CU, the PUinformation PTI input to the predicted image generation section 14includes, for example, a motion vector mvLX (where X=0 and 1) and areference image index refIdxLX (where X=0 and 1) or single prediction(L0 prediction and L1 prediction) for designating a decoded image storedin the frame memory 16 as a reference image or an inter-predictionidentifier inter pred idx for designating an inter-prediction schemesuch as bi-directional prediction.

In a case in which the target CU is an intra-CU, the PU information PTIinput to the predicted image generation section 14 includes a predictionmode (IntraPredMode) and a chroma prediction mode (IntraPredModeC).Hereinafter, definition of the prediction modes (luminance and chroma)will be described with reference to FIG. 7.

(Overview)

FIG. 7 illustrates examples of classification of intra-prediction modesused in the moving image decoding device 1 and corresponding predictionmode numbers. Prediction mode number ‘0’ is allocated to the planarprediction (INTRA_PLANAR), prediction mode number ‘1’ is allocated tothe DC prediction (INTRA DC), prediction mode numbers ‘2’ to ‘34’ areallocated to the angular prediction (INTRA ANGULAR), prediction modenumber ‘35’ is allocated to the DMM 1 prediction (INTRA_DMM_WFULL), andprediction mode number ‘36’ is allocated to the DMM 4 prediction(INTRA_DMM_CREDTEX). The DMM 1 prediction and the DMM 4 prediction arecollectively referred to as depth intra-prediction. The depthintra-prediction is based on a depth model in which a target block on adepth map (also referred to as a depth block) is configured by twononrectangular flat regions and a depth value of each flat region isexpressed with a fixed value. As a depth block partition method, thereare wedgelet partition called DMM 1 and contour partition called DMM 4.In the present specification, a method of using the wedgelet partitionwill be described.

Next, an identifier of each prediction mode included in the angularprediction will be described with reference to FIG. 8. In FIG. 8,identifiers of the prediction modes and corresponding predictiondirections are illustrated in 33 types of prediction modes belonging todirectional prediction.

(Details of Predicted Image Generation Section)

Next, the configuration of the predicted image generation section 14will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is afunctional block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration ofthe predicted image generation section 14. In the example of theconfiguration, a functional block related to generation of a predictedimage of the intra-CU in the functions of the predicted image generationsection 14 is illustrated.

As illustrated in FIG. 9, the predicted image generation section 14includes a prediction unit setting section 141, a reference pixelsetting section 142, a switch 143, a reference pixel filtering section144, and a predicted image derivation section 145.

The prediction unit setting section 141 sets target PUs in a settingprocedure of the definition of the PUs included in the target CU andoutputs information (target PU information) regarding the target PU. Thetarget PU information includes at least a size nS of the target PU, theposition of the target PU in the CU, and an index (luminance or chromaindex cIdx) indicating a luminance or chroma plane of the target PU.

The switch 143 outputs a reference pixel to a corresponding outputdestination based on the luminance or chroma index cIdx and theprediction mode predModeIntra among the pieces of input target PUinformation. More specifically, on the assumption that the luminance orchroma index cIdx is 0 (a processing target pixel is luminance) and theprediction mode predModeIntra is 0 to 34 (the prediction mode is theplanar prediction, the DC prediction, or the angular prediction(predModeIntra<<35)), the switch 143 outputs the input reference pixelto the reference pixel filtering section 144. In other cases, that is,on the assumption that the luminance or chroma index cIdx is 1 (aprocessing target pixel is chroma) or the prediction mode predModeIntrais the depth intra-prediction allocated to prediction mode number ‘35’(predModeIntra>=35), the switch 143 outputs the input reference pixel tothe predicted image derivation section 145.

The reference pixel filtering section 144 applies a filter to the inputreference pixel value and outputs the reference pixel value after theapplication of the filter. Specifically, the reference pixel filteringsection 144 decides whether to apply a filter according to the target PUsize and the prediction mode predModeIntra.

The predicted image derivation section 145 generates a predicted imagepredSamples in the target PU based on the input PU information (theprediction mode predModeIntra, the luminance or chroma index cIdx, andthe PU size nS) and the reference pixel p[x][y] and outputs thepredicted image predSamples. The details of the predicted imagederivation section 145 will be described later.

(Flow of Predicted Image Generation Process)

Next, a schematic predicted image generation process in the CU unit inthe predicted image generation section 14 will be described withreference to the flowchart of FIG. 10. When the predicted imagegeneration process in the CU unit starts, the prediction unit settingsection 141 first sets one PU included in the CU as a target PU in thepre-decided procedure and outputs the target PU information to thereference pixel setting section 142 and the switch 143 (S11). Next, thereference pixel setting section 142 sets a reference pixel of the targetPU using a decoded pixel value read from an external frame memory (S12).Next, the switch 143 determines whether the target PU is luminance orchroma or the prediction mode predModeIntra is the DMM prediction basedon the input target PU information and switches an output according tothe determination result (S13).

In a case in which the target PU is luminance and the prediction modepredModeIntra is not the depth intra-prediction (cIdx==0 &&predModeIntra<35) (YES in S13), the output of the switch 143 isconnected to the reference pixel filtering section 144. Subsequently,the reference pixel is input to the reference pixel filtering section144, a reference pixel filter is applied according to a separately inputprediction mode, and the reference pixel after the application of thefilter is output to the predicted image derivation section 145 (S14).

Conversely, in a case in which the target PU is the chroma or theprediction mode predModeIntra is the depth intra-prediction(cIdx==1∥predModeIntra>=35) (NO in S13), the output of the switch 143 isconnected to the predicted image derivation section 145.

Next, the predicted image derivation section 145 generates the predictedimage predSamples in the target PU based on the input PU information(the prediction mode predModeIntra, the luminance or chroma index cIdx,and the PU size nS) and the reference pixel p[x][y] and outputs thepredicted image predSamples (S15).

When the generation of the predicted image of the luminance or thechroma of the target PU ends, the prediction unit setting section 141determines whether the predicted image of all of the PUs in the targetCU is generated (S16). In a case in which the predicted image of some ofthe PUs in the target CU is not generated (NO in S16), the processreturns to the foregoing S1 and the predicted image generation processof a subsequent PU in the target CU is executed. In a case in which thepredicted image of all of the PUs in the target CU is generated (YES inS16), the predicted image of the luminance and the chroma of each PU inthe target CU is accordingly output as the predicted image of the targetCU and the process ends.

(Details of Predicted Image Derivation Section 145)

Next, the details of the predicted image derivation section 145 will bedescribed. As illustrated in FIG. 9, the predicted image derivationsection 145 further includes a DC prediction section 145D, a planarprediction section 145P, an angular prediction section 145A, and a DMMprediction section 145T.

The predicted image derivation section 145 selects a prediction methodto be used to generate a predicted image based on the input predictionmode predModeIntra. The selection of the prediction method is realizedby selecting a prediction method corresponding to the prediction modenumber of the input prediction mode predModeIntra based on theabove-described definition of FIG. 7.

Further, the predicted image derivation section 145 derives thepredicted image according to the selection result of the predictionmethod. More specifically, in a case in which the prediction method isthe planar prediction, the DC prediction, the angular prediction, andthe DMM prediction, the planar prediction section 145P, the DCprediction section 145D, the angular prediction section 145A, and theDMM prediction section 145T of the predicted image derivation section145 derive the predicted image, respectively.

The DC prediction section 145D derives a DC prediction value equivalentto an average value of the pixel values of the input reference pixelsand outputs the predicted image in which the derived DC prediction valueis set as a pixel value.

The planar prediction section 145P generates the predicted image inaccordance with the pixel value derived by linearly adding the pluralityof reference pixels according to a distance from the prediction targetpixel and outputs the predicted image.

[Angular Prediction Section 145A]

The angular prediction section 145A generates the predicted imagecorresponding to the target PU using the reference pixel in theprediction direction (reference direction) corresponding to the inputprediction mode predModeIntra and outputs the predicted image. In theprocess of generating the predicted image through the angularprediction, a main reference pixel is set according to a value of theprediction mode predModeIntra and the predicted image is generated withreference to the main reference pixel in units of lines or columns inthe PU.

[DMM Prediction Section 145T]

The DMM prediction section 145T generates a predicted imagecorresponding in the target PU based on the DMM prediction (DepthModeling Mode which is also referred to as depth intra-prediction)corresponding to the input prediction mode predModeIntra and outputs thepredicted image.

A schematic DMM prediction will be described with reference to FIG. 11before detailed description of the DMM prediction section 145T. FIG. 11is a conceptual diagram illustrating the DMM prediction executed by theDMM prediction section 145T. As illustrated in FIG. 11(a), a depth mapis mainly characterized in that the depth map has an edge regionindicating an object boundary and a flat region (a depth value issubstantially constant) indicating an object area. First, in the DMMprediction, basically, a target block is partitioned into two regions P1and P2 along an edge of an object using the image characteristics of thedepth map and a wedge pattern WedgePattern[x][y] which is patterninformation indicating a region to each pixel belongs is derived, asillustrated in FIG. 11(b).

The wedge pattern (wedgelet pattern) WedgePattern[x][y] is a matrixwhich has a size of width×height of a target block (target PU) and inwhich 0 or 1 is set for each component (x, y), and indicates that eachpixel of the target block belongs one of the two regions P1 and P2. Inthe example of FIG. 11(b), when the value of a component is 0, the pixelbelongs to the region P1. When the value of a component is 1, the pixelbelongs to the region P2. Next, as illustrated in FIG. 11(c), apredicted image is generated by filling the regions P1 and P2 with depthprediction values.

Hereinafter, a wedge pattern partitioned by a line segment referred toas wedgelet is referred to as a wedgelet pattern for convenience. Sincethe wedge pattern and the wedgelet pattern are the same (2-dimensionalpattern partitioned into two regions), the wedge pattern and thewedgelet pattern may not particularly distinguished from each other. Thewedge pattern (the wedgelet pattern) is also simply referred to as apattern.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the DMM prediction section 145T willbe described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a functional blockdiagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the DMMprediction section 145T.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a DMM prediction section 145T includes a wedgepattern derivation section 145T2 and a DC prediction value derivationsection 145T3 are included.

The DMM prediction section 145T activates wedge pattern generation meanscorresponding to the input prediction mode predModeIntra to generate awedge pattern wedgePattern[x][y] indicating the partition pattern of thetarget PU. More specifically, in a case in which the prediction modepredModeIntra is prediction mode number ‘35’, that is, in theINTRA_DMM_WEDGEFULL mode, a wedge pattern derivation section 145T2 isactivated. On the other hand, in a case in which the prediction modepredModeIntra is prediction mode number ‘36’, that is, in theINTRA_DMM_i mode, a DC prediction value derivation section 145T3 isactivated.

[Wedge Pattern Derivation Section 145T2]

The wedge pattern derivation section 145T2 derives the wedge patternwedgePattern[x][y] to be applied to the target PU from an arrayWedgePatternTable[x][y] of the wedge pattern table stored in the wedgepattern table 145T5 based on the input target PU size nS, the wedgepattern index wedge_full_tab_idx, a preset reference wedge pattern sizenBS, and the number of reference wedge patterns NumWedgePattern[log 2(nS)], and then outputs the wedge pattern wedgePattern[x][y] to the DCprediction value derivation section 145T3.wedgePattern[x][y]=WedgePatternTable[log2(ns)][wedge_full_tab_idx][x][y]

with x=0 to nS−1 and y=0 to nS−1.

Here, log 2(nS) is a logarithmic value of the target PU size (nS) tobase 2 and is also expressed as log 2BlkSize (=log 2(nS)). For nS=4, 8,16, 32, and 64, log 2(nS) is 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

[DC Prediction Value Derivation Section 145T3]

The DC prediction value derivation section 145T3 partitions the targetPU into two regions (for example, regions P1 and P2 illustrated in FIG.11(c)) based on the wedge pattern wedgePattern[x][y] indicating thepartition pattern of the target PU, derives a prediction value for theregion P1 and a prediction value for the region P2 based on the input PTinformation and the reference pixel p[x][y], and sets and derives theprediction value derived in each region to a predicted imagepredSamples[x][y].

[Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4]

The wedge pattern derivation section 145T2 activates the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4 only at the first activation time togenerate a plurality of wedge patterns for each block size nS. Next, thegenerated wedge patterns are stored in the wedge pattern table 145T5.

An overview of a method of generating the wedgelet patterns will bedescribed with reference to FIG. 12 before a method of generating thewedge pattern table in the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 isdescribed. First, a wedgelet pattern in which all the components are 0is generated. Next, a starting point S (xS, yS) and an ending point E(xE, yE) are set in the wedgelet pattern. The starting point and theending point are set on sides of a quadrangle that forms a pattern. Inan example of FIG. 12(a), the starting point S (xS, yS)=(3,patternSize−1) and the ending point E (xE, yE)=(patternSize−1, 2). Next,a line segment is drawn between the starting point S and the endingpoint E using the Bresenham algorithm (components on a diagonal line inFIG. 12(b)). In an example of FIG. 12(c), a wedgelet patternwedgePattern[x][y] is continuously generated by setting 1 in componentson the line segment and components corresponding to coordinates of theleft side of the line segment, as illustrated in FIG. 12(d). Here,patternSize is the size (the vertical width and the horizontal width) ofa block that generates a wedgelet pattern.

Hereinafter, the method of generating the wedge pattern table in thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 will be described. Asillustrated in FIG. 13, the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4mainly generates wedgelet patterns of 6 types of wedge orientationswedgeOri (wedgeOri=0 to 5) according to the block sizes nS. A pluralityof wedge patterns (wedge pattern set) are generated while shifting thepositions of starting and ending points in one wedge orientationwedgeOri (wedgeOri=0 to 5).

FIG. 13(a) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=0 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the top side of a block as a starting point and selecting a point ona line segment E of the left side of the block as an ending point.

FIG. 13(b) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=1 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the right side of a block as a starting point and selecting a pointon a line segment E of the top side of the block as an ending point.

FIG. 13(c) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=2 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the bottom side of a block as a starting point and selecting a pointon a line segment E of the right side of the block as an ending point.

FIG. 13(d) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=3 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the left side of a block as a starting point and selecting a point ona line segment E of the bottom side of the block as an ending point.

FIG. 13(e) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=4 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the top side of a block as a starting point and selecting a point ona line segment E of the bottom side of the block as an ending point.

FIG. 13(f) illustrates a wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=5 formed by two regions partitioned by a line segmentconnecting two points obtained by selecting a point on a line segment Sof the left side of a block as a starting point and selecting a point ona line segment E of the right side of the block as an ending point.

In the embodiment, the wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=0 illustrated in FIG. 13(a) is referred to as a first basicpattern. The wedgelet patterns of the wedge orientations wedgeOri=1 to 3illustrated in FIG. 13(b) are generated by rotating the wedgelet patternof the wedge orientation wedgeOri=0. Further, the wedgelet pattern ofthe wedge orientation wedgeOri=4 illustrated in FIG. 13(e) is referredto as a second basic pattern. The wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientations wedgeOri=5 illustrated in FIG. 13(f) is generated byrotating the wedgelet pattern of the wedge orientation wedgeOri=4.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4. The wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4 is configured to include a basic patterngeneration section 1461, a pattern storage section 1464, and a rotationpattern generation section 1565. The basic pattern generation section1461 is configured to include a line segment drawing section 1462 and aregion filling section 1463.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 according to theembodiment does not generate all of the wedgelet patterns through a linesegment drawing process and a region filling process performed using theline segment drawing section 1462 and the region filling section 1463and generates some of the wedgelet patterns through a rotation processperformed using the rotation pattern generation section 1565. Since theline segment drawing process and the region filling process in which aprocessing amount is large are substituted with a rotation process inwhich the processing amount is small, the advantageous effect ofreducing the processes is obtained.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4. As illustrated, thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 according to the embodimentgenerates a first rotation pattern of the first basic pattern, a secondrotation pattern of the first basic pattern, and a third rotationpattern of the first basic pattern which are a wedgelet pattern setthrough rotation performed by the rotation pattern generation section1565, as illustrated in (b), (c), and (d) of FIG. 16 with reference torespective wedgelet patterns included in the first basic pattern whichis a wedgelet pattern set generated by the basic pattern generationsection 1461, as illustrated in (a) of FIG. 16 and generates a firstrotation pattern of the second basic pattern which is a wedgelet patternset through rotation performed by the rotation pattern generationsection 1565, as illustrated in (f) of FIG. 16 with reference torespective wedgelet patterns included in the second basic pattern whichis a wedgelet pattern set generated by the basic pattern generationsection 1461, as illustrated in (e) of FIG. 16. In the embodiment,clockwise 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees will be exemplifiedas examples of the first rotation pattern, the second rotation pattern,and the third rotation pattern. However, irrespective of this order, anorder of 270 degrees, 180 degrees, and 90 degrees may be used as long asthe pattern is rotated in units of 90 degrees. Also, an order of 180degrees, 90 degrees, and 270 degrees may be used.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4.

(S0001) A variable posWedgePattern is set to 0.

(S0002) A loop related to the wedge orientation wedgeOri starts. Then,0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are set in order in the wedge orientation wedgeOriand processes from S0003 to S0014 are performed. Thus, the wedgeletpattern set of the wedge orientation wedgeOri is derived.

(S0003) In a case in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri has a valueindicating the basic patterns (here, wedgeOri=0 and 4), the processtransitions to S0004 to generate each wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri through the line segment drawing process and theregion filling process. In a case in which the wedge orientationwedgeOri has a value other than the values indicating the basic patterns(here, wedgeOri=1, 2, 3, and 5), the process transitions to S0010 togenerate a wedgelet pattern through a rotation process.

(S0004) posWedgePattern which is the number of wedge patterns beforegeneration of the basic patterns is set in a variable posStart. A looprelated to variables m and n for controlling a starting point positionand an ending point position of posStart=posWedgePattern (S0005) starts.Loop variables are assumed to be m and n. Hereinafter, the processesfrom S0006 to S0008 are performed on m and n of m=0 to wBlkSize−1 andn=0 to wBikSize−1. Thus, the wedgelet patterns are generating whilechanging the starting and ending points of the wedge orientationwedgeOri. In addition, wBlkSize is a block size (virtual block size).

(S0006) the line segment drawing section 1462 draws a line segment andthe region filling section 1463 fills a region to generate a wedgeletpattern with the starting and ending points indicated by the variables mand n and the wedge orientation wedgeOri.

(S0007) The pattern storage section 1464 stores the generated wedgeletpattern in the wedge pattern table 145T5. More specifically, in a casein which a matching determination condition indicated by the patternstorage section 1464 is satisfied, the wedgelet pattern is stored. In acase in which the wedgelet pattern is stored, the number of wedgepatterns NumWedgePattern increases by 1. The number of wedge patternsNumWedgePattern at the time of the storage is set in posWedgePattern.

(S0008) The loop related to the variables m and n for controlling thestarting point position and the ending point position ends.

(S0009) posWedgePattern−1 which is the number of wedge patterns aftergeneration of the basic patterns is set in posEnd.posEnd=posWedgePattern−1.

(S0010) A loop related to the index pos of the reference pattern starts.A range of pos is a range from posStart to posEnd.

(S0011) The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates thewedgelet pattern which is a rotation pattern using pos as the referencewedgelet pattern.

(S0012) The generated wedgelet pattern is stored in the wedge patterntable 145T5. More specifically, in a case in which a matchingdetermination condition indicated by the pattern storage section 1464 issatisfied, the wedgelet pattern is stored. In a case in which thewedgelet pattern is stored, the number of wedge patterns NumWedgePatternincreases by 1. The number of wedge patterns NumWedgePattern at the timeof the storage is set in posWedgePattern.

(S0013) The loop related to the index pos of the reference pattern ends.

(S0014) The loop related to the wedge orientation wedgeOri ends.

Hereinafter, an operation of each means included in the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4 will be described.

(Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4)

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 generates a pattern withpatternSize×patternSize using a block size (the size of a pattern) aspatternSize (=nS). In the invention, it is assumed that a pattern ofwBlkSize×wBlkSize is generated using a virtual block size wBlkSize whichis equal to or twice the block size internally when the pattern ofpatternSize×patternSize is generated. Thus, the pattern can be generatedin a finer unit. Here, wBlkSize=patternSize<<resShift is satisfied. Avirtual expansion shift value resShift is set to 0 or 1. Here, thepattern size is patternSize=(1<<log 2BlkSize) when a base 2 logarithmlog 2BlkSize of a target pattern is used.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 sets 2, 3, and 4 in thelogarithm log 2BlkSize with the size of a wedge rate pattern andgenerates wedgelet patterns with sizes (4, 8, and 16). The pattern sizepatternSize, the virtual expansion shift value resShift, and the virtualblock size wBlkSize are introduced in the following formulae.resShift=(log 2BlkSize==4)?0:1patternSize=(1<<log 2BlkSize)wBlkSize=(patternSize<<resShift)=(1<<(log 2BlkSize+resShift))

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 sets 0 in the variableposWedgePattern (S0001).

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 sets the wedge orientationwedgeOri (S0002) and generates a plurality of wedgelet patterns(wedgelet pattern set) corresponding to each wedge orientation wedgeOri.Specifically, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are used for the wedge orientationswedgeOri.

In the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4, the basic patterngeneration section 1461 generates the wedgelet patterns in a case inwhich the wedge orientation wedgeOri is 0 and 4 (S0004 to S0009). In acase in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri is 1, 2, 3, and 5, therotation pattern generation section 1465 generates the wedgelet patternby reading the wedgelet pattern stored in the wedge pattern table 145Tand rotating the wedgelet pattern. The generated wedgelet pattern isstored in the wedge pattern table 145T by the pattern storage section1464. The number of wedge tables according to the size log 2BlkSize isrecorded in an array NumWedgePattern[ ]. NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]is set in the variable posWedgePattern.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 sets posWedgePattern whichis the number NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize] of the wedge table stored inthe wedge pattern table 145T in the variable posStart at that time pointbefore the derivation of the basic pattern (S0004).

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 sets posWedgePattern−1which is the number NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize] of the wedge tablestored in the wedge pattern table 145T in the variable posEnd at thattime point after the derivation of the basic pattern (S0009).

(Basic Pattern Generation Section)

The basic pattern generation section 1461 derives the first basicpattern (here, the wedgelet pattern set of the wedge orientationwedgeOri=0) and the second basic pattern (here, the wedgelet pattern setof the wedge orientation wedgeOri=4). Specifically, the starting andending points of each wedgelet pattern belonging to each basic patternare set, a line segment is set in the wedgelet pattern using the linesegment drawing section 1462, and one of two regions partitioned by theline segment is set to 1 by the region filling section 1463 (S0006).

The basic pattern generation section 1461 performs the basic pattern (awedge rate pattern that forms a basis) through the following processesin a case in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri is wedgeOri=0 (thewedge orientation corresponding to the first basic pattern) orwedgeOri=4 (the wedge orientation corresponding to the second basicpattern).

The variable m that takes each value in a range from 0 to wBlkSize−1 andthe variable n that takes each value in a range from 0 to wBlkSize−1 areset, and starting points (xS, yS, xE, yE) are derived by the followingformulae.xS=myS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:nyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n:wBlkSize−1

The basic pattern generation section 1461 inputs the starting point (xS,yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) to the line segment drawing section1462 and generates a line segment pattern as curPattern.

The basic pattern generation section 1461 inputs the starting point (xS,yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) to the region filling section 1463 andsets 1 in one of the regions of curPattern.

The basic pattern generation section 1461 inputs the pattern curPatterngenerated by the pattern storage section 1464.

(Line Segment Drawing Section 1462)

The line segment drawing section 1462 sets 1 in coordinates(xPos>>refShift, yPos>>refShift) obtained by shifting the line segmentcoordinates (xPos, yPos) to the right side by refShift where thecoordinates (xPos, yPos) is obtained from the starting point (xS, yS)and the ending point (xE, yE) on an expanded block with a sizepatternSize<<refShift obtained by shifting the wedgelet pattern sizepatternSize to the left side by refShift. The line segment drawingsection 1462 derives a line segment connecting the starting point (xS,yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) through a process indicated by thefollowing pseudo-code and outputs the line segment to a patterncurPattern[ ][ ] (wedgePattern[ ][ ]).

x0 = xS y0 = yS x1 = xE y1 = yE if (abs (yE − yS) > abs (xE − xS)) {(x0, y0) = Swap (x0, y0) (x1, y1) = Swap (x1, y1) } if (x0 > x1) { (x0,x1) = Swap (x0, x1) (y0, y1) = Swap (y0, y1) } sumErr = 0 posY = y0 for(posX = x0; posX <= x1; posX++) { if (abs (yE − yS) > abs (xE − xS))curPattern[posY >> resShift][posX >> resShift] = 1 elsecurPattern[posX >> resShift][posY >> resShift] = 1 sumErr += (abs (y1 −y0) << 1) if (sumErr >= (x1 − x0)) { posY += (y0 < y1) ? 1 : −−1 sumErr−−= (x1 − x0) << 1 } }

Also, x0, y0, x1, and y1 are variables indicating starting and endingpoints after conversion, sumErr indicates an increment, posX and posYindicate coordinates indicating a dot on a line connecting the startingpoint (xS, yS) to the ending point (xE, yE), and Swap (x, y) indicates aprocess of swapping x and y. Further, curPattern is a wedge patternwedgePattern[ ][ ] which is a processing target.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating a relation between virtual coordinates(posX, posY) and a pattern according to the embodiment. The line segmentdrawing section 1462 sets the virtual coordinates (posX, posY) as apoint on the line connecting the starting point (xS, yS) to the endingpoint (xE, yE) on a virtual block with wBlkSize×wBlkSize. The linesegment drawing section 1462 does not ensure the virtual block on amemory and write 1 on the virtual coordinates (posX, posY), but writes 1on coordinates (posY>>resShift, posX>>resShift) obtained by shifting thevirtual coordinates to the right side by the virtual expansion shiftvalue resShift on a memory equivalent to a pattern withpatternSize×patternSize.

That is, the line segment drawing section 1462 has characteristics inwhich a line segment drawing process is operated by performing a processof setting a pixel at the virtual coordinates (posX, posY) to 1 bymoving the starting point (xS, yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) on avirtual block size wBlkSize. Further, the line segment drawing section1462 derives the coordinates (posY>>resShift, posX>>resShift) byshifting the virtual coordinates to the right side by the virtualexpansion shift value resShift when 1 is substituted to the patterncurPattern[ ][ ]. In this way, when the pattern is actually stored whileperforming the drawing process at the coordinate system expanded by thevirtual expansion shift value resShift, it is possible to obtain theadvantageous effect of preventing a memory size used for the linesegment drawing process from increasing by shifting the coordinates tothe right side by the virtual expansion shift value resShift andreturning the coordinates to the original coordinates. That is, a memorywith wBlkSize×wBlkSize is not necessary while using expanded coordinatesand a memory with patternSize×patternSize may be used.

(Region Filling Section 1463)

The region filling section 1463 fills one region with 1 between tworegions divided by a line segment in the pattern curPattern derived bythe line segment drawing section 1462. The other region is filled with0. In the following filling process, a region is filled such that avalue of the pattern at the top left coordinates is normally set to 1.In another configuration of the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4, a region may be filled such that a value of the pattern at thetop left coordinates is normally set to 0.

The region filling section 1463 fills the region by setting a value ofthe pattern curPattern[ ][ ] to 1 through a process indicated by thefollowing pseudo-code.

for (iY = 0; iY <= yE >> resShift; iY++) { for (iX = 0; iX <= curSize −1&& curPattern[iX][iY] == 0; iX++) curPattern[iX][iY] = 1 }That is, the region filling section 1463 performs the following processon the vertical component iY at the coordinate yE>>resShift of theending point from 0. In addition, yE>>resShift is a coordinate on thewedgelet pattern derived by shifting the coordinate yE of the endingpoint in the virtual block to the right side by the virtual expansionshift value resShift. In addition, curPattern is a wedge patternwedgePattern[ ][ ] which is a processing target.

The region filling section 1463 sets 1 at a point at which a valuecurPattern[iX][iY] of the pattern is not 0 by curPattern[iX][iY]=1 whilesearching for a position at which the value curPattern[iX][iY] of thepattern is 0 in regard to the horizontal component iX of curSize−1 from0.

The foregoing region filling section 1463 requires information regardingthe ending point yE, but may perform another operation in which theinformation is not necessary. FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating anotheroperation of the region filling section 1463. Specifically, the regionis filled by setting the value of the pattern curPattern[ ][ ] to 1through a process indicated by the following pseudo-code.

for (iY = 0; iY < curSize; iY++) {// loop B0 // process B1 for (iX =curSize −−1; iX >= 0 || curPattern[iX][iY] == 0; iX−−) { } // process B2for (; iX >= 0; iX−−) { curPattern[iX][iY] = 1 } } Here, curSize =patternSize.

The region filling section 1463 performs the following process on thevertical component iY of curSize−1 from 0 (loop B0). The region fillingsection 1463 searches for a position at which the valuecurPattern[iX][iY] of the pattern is 1 in regard to the horizontalcomponent iX starting from curSize−1 (process B1). That is, the value ofiX decreases one by one as long as the value curPattern[iX][iY] of thepattern is 0. In FIG. 21(a), a point iX1 is found.

Subsequently, when a point at which curPattern[iX][iY] is 1 is found,the region filling section 1463 sets 1 in the pattern ascurPattern[iX][iY]=1 while decreasing the value of iX one by one untilthe value of iX becomes 0 (process B2). In FIG. 21(b), filling isperformed with a value closer 0 than iX1. The region filling section1463 performs a process B1 illustrated in FIG. 21(c) by repeating thesame process in the loop of B0 and performs a process B2 illustrated inFIG. 21(d). When iX1 is not found between curSize−1 to 0 in the processB1 as in FIG. 21(e), iX=−1 is obtained in the process B1. In this case,in the process B2, the filling is not performed in this column as inFIG. 21(f) without performing the process. In the foregoing algorithm,it is possible to obtain the advantageous effect that the process ispossible even when a pixel in which the pattern curPattern[iX][iY] is 1is present or absent in each row in which the vertical component iY is acertain value. Specifically, when a pixel in which the patterncurPattern[iX][iY] is 1 in each row is present, all the left pixels ofthe pixel in which the pattern curPattern[iX][iY] is 1 are filledwith 1. When a pixel in which the pattern curPattern[iX][iY] is 1 isabsent, the process is not performed.

In the filling of the region, the region filling section 1463 performs,for example, a process of the following pseudo-code so that the value ofthe pattern at the top left coordinates is normally 0.

for (y = 0; y < curSize; y++) { for (x = curSize −1; x >= 0; x−−) { if(curPattern [(y * curSize) + x]) break; curPattern [(y * curSize) + x] =1; } for (; x >= 0; x−−) { curPattern [(y * curSize) + x] = 0; } }(Rotation Pattern Generation Section 1465)

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates a rotationpattern of the basic pattern by reading the basic pattern stored in thewedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating the basic pattern(equivalent to (b) of FIG. 16) (S0010 to S0013). Here, the wedgeletpattern of the wedge orientation wedgeOri=1 illustrated in FIG. 13(b) isgenerated. Specifically, a rotated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is derivedthrough the following process ROT using each WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][pos] designated by pos from startPos (here, 0) to endPos inthe wedge pattern table 145T as a reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ]

(Process ROT) cInc = wedgeOri == 2 ? −1 : 0; sInc = (wedgeOri == 1 ? −1: 1) * (1 + cInc) iOffset = cInc + sInc < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0jOffset = −sInc + cInc + < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0 for (y = 0; y <patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i = iOffset +cInc * x + sInc * y j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y wedgePattern[x][y]= refPattern[i][j] formula R1 }

In a case in which a target pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is generated froma reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ], the rotation pattern generationsection 1465 converts coordinates (x, y) on a target pattern intocoordinates (i, j) on a reference pattern to perform derivation by usinga pixel refPattern[i][j] at the coordinates (i, j) on the referencepattern as a pixel wedgePattern[x][y] at the coordinates (x, y) on thetarget pattern as in formula R1.

wedgePattern[x][y]=refPattern[i][j] formula R1 In addition, i and j arevalues in the range of 0 to patternSize. Here, the coordinates (x, y) onthe target pattern and the coordinates (i, j) on the reference patternare assumed to be converted with a rotation matrix. That is, relationsof x=(cos θ)i−(sin θ)j+offsetX and y=(sin θ)i−(cos θ)j+offsetY aresatisfied. Here, offsetX and offsetY are offsets set so that it issatisfied that the coordinates (x, y) after the coordinate conversionare equal to or greater than 0 and equal to or less than patternSize−1.In the formula of the foregoing process ROT, cInc corresponds to cos θ,sInc corresponds to sin θ, and cInc2+sInc2=1 is satisfied.

In particular, any case of θ=90 degrees (PI/2 rad), 180 degrees (PIrad), and 270 degree (3 PI/2 rad) is used from a first rotation patternto a third rotation pattern according to the embodiment. Here, PI is thecircular constant and is 3.141592 . . . . Accordingly, the rotationpattern generation section 1465 performs a process in which 0 or −1 isset in cInc or one of 1, −1 (when cInc is 0), and 0 (when cInx is −1) isset in sInc through the process ROT.

In a case in which the target pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is generatedfrom the reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ] as illustrated in thefollowing process ROT′, the rotation pattern generation section 1465 mayperform coordinate conversion from the coordinates (i, j) on thereference pattern to the coordinates (x, y) on the target pattern andmay use a pixel refPattern[i][j] at the coordinates (i, j) on thereference pattern as the pixel wedgePattern[x][y] at the coordinates (x,y) on the target pattern.

(Process ROT′) xOffset = cInc − sInc < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0 yOffset =sInc + cInc < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0 for (j = 0; j < patternSize; j++)for (i = 0; i < patternSize; i++) { x = xOffset + cInc * i − sInc * j y= yOffset + sInc * i + cInc * j wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern [i][j] }(Pattern Storage Section 1464)

In a case in which the wedgelet pattern matched (overlapped) to thewedgelet pattern generated by the basic pattern generation section 1461and the rotation pattern generation section 1465 is not present in thewedge pattern table, the pattern storage section 1464, the wedgeletpattern is added to a wedge pattern table WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]] with wBlksize×wBlksize. Morespecifically, a value of the generated wedgelet patternwedgePattern[x][y] is set in a component corresponding to the wedgepattern table WedgePatternTable by the following formula.

WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][NumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize][x][y]=wedgePattern[x][y], with x=0 to wBlkSize−1 and y=0 towBlkSize−1 The overlapped wedgelet pattern is the same partition patternas the generated wedgelet pattern or the same partition pattern as thewedgelet pattern (for example, a partition pattern in which 0 issubstituted with 1 and 1 is substituted with 0 in FIG. 11(b)) in whicheach component value of the generated wedgelet pattern is inverted.Here, wBlksize indicates a size of the width and height of a blockgenerating a wedgelet pattern and an array NumWedgePattern[ ] indicatesthe number of wedgelet patterns (the number of wedge patterns) added tothe wedge pattern table according to the block size in which thelogarithmic value (log 2BlkSize) with the block size is an argument.Whenever a wedgelet pattern is added to the wedge pattern table, 1 isadded to the number of wedge patterns NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]. Aninitial value of NumWedgePattern is 0. The number of wedgelet patternswith the size log 2BlkSize stored in the wedge pattern table 145T5 isassumed to be NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize].

FIG. 18 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the pattern storagesection 1464.

(S2001) The pattern storage section 1464 performs matching determinationC1 and ends the process without storage in a case in which it isdetermined that the wedgelet pattern is matched. In a case in which itis determined that the wedgelet pattern is not matched, the processtransitions to S2002. The pattern storage section 1464 compares thepattern WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][k][x][y] stored in the wedgepattern table 145T5 of an index k (0 to NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]−1)to a target pattern wedgePattern[x][y]. When any one pattern is notmatched, a matching flag is set to 0 (a matching determination processC1).

// matching determination process C1 for k = 0 toNumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize] − 1 patIdenticalFlag = 1 for x, y = 0 to (1<< log2BlkSize) − 1, if (wedgePattern[x][y] !=WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][k][x][y]) patIdenticalFlag = 0

(S2002) The pattern storage section 1464 performs inversion matchingdetermination C2 and ends the process without storing the pattern in acase in which the wedgelet pattern is matched. In other cases, theprocess transitions to S2003. The pattern storage section 1464 comparesthe pattern WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][k][x][y] stored in the wedgepattern table 145T5 of the index k (0 to NumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize]−1) to a target pattern wedgePattern[x][y]. When any onepattern is the same (when any one inverted pattern is different), amatching flag is set to 0 (an inversion matching determination processC2).

// inversion matching determination process C2 for k = 0 toNumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize] − 1 patIdenticalFlag = 1 for x, y = 0 to (1<< log2BlkSize) − 1, if (wedgePattern[x][y] ==WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][k][x][y]) patIdenticalFlag = 0

(S2003) The pattern storage section 1464 stores the generated wedgeletpattern in the wedge pattern table 145T5. A case in which the wedgeletpattern is stored is only a case in which it is determined that thewedgelet pattern is not matched in the matching determination C1 and theinversion matching determination C2 and patIdenticalFlag is 0. When thewedgelet pattern is stored, the number of wedge patternsNumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize] increases by 1.

(Operation Procedure of Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4)

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a process mainly performed togenerate each basic pattern and generate each rotation pattern in awedgelet pattern generation process in the wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4. Hereinafter, a detailed operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4 will be described with reference to FIG. 15.FIG. 19 is a table illustrating parameters used to generate the basicpatterns and generate the rotation patterns. By using the parameters,each pattern can be generated through a common process. Each basicpattern may be generated and each rotation pattern may be generatedusing an individual process (a program or a circuit) obtained bydeveloping a generation parameter in the drawing without using thecommon process (a program or a circuit).

(S1001) Generating First Basic Pattern

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 generates the first basicpattern in the basic pattern generation section 1461 (equivalent to (b)of FIG. 16). Here, the first basic pattern generation is the wedgeletpattern of the wedge orientation wedgeOri=0 illustrated in FIG. 13(a),but may be any one wedgelet pattern of the wedgelet patterns of thewedge orientations wedgeOri=0 to 3. The basic pattern is generated bysetting a starting point and an ending point, drawing a line segment,and filling a region.

The basic pattern generation section 1461 sets the starting point (xS,yS) and the ending point (xE, yE). Specifically, in a first loopvariable m (where m=0 to wBlkSize−1) and a second loop variable n (wheren=0 to wBlkSize−1), xS, yS, xE, yE are set by the following formulae.xS=myS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:nyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n:wBlkSize−1Since wedgeOri==0, the following setting is performed.xS=myS=0xE=0yE=nHere, as described in FIG. 13(a), the starting point is a point on theline segment S of the top side of the block and the ending point is apoint on the line segment E of the left side of the block.

The starting and ending points may be set as follows using xPosS, yPosS,xPosE, and yPosE as initial values and using xIncS, yIncS, xIncE, andyIncE as increments.xS=(xPosS+m*xIncS)yS=(yPosS+m*yIncS)xE=(xPosE+n*xIncE)yE=(yPosE+n*yIncE)

In a case in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri=0 is set as a basicpattern, the values illustrated in (a) of FIG. 19, xPosS=0, yPosS=0,xPosE=0, yPosE=0, xIncS=1, yIncS=0, xIncE=0, and yIncE=1, are set. Thus,the foregoing values are set.

The region filling section 1463 searches for a pixel in which thepattern is 1 and sets 1 in continuous pixels when there are the pixelsin which the pattern is 1.

The second loop variable n may start from 1 (where n=1 to wBlkSize−1).Thus, it is possible to prevent a redundant pattern from beinggenerated.

The region is filled using the common process between the first andsecond basic patterns. In the line segment drawing section 1462according to the embodiment, it is possible to obtain the advantageouseffect that one region filling process can be commonly used withoutusing the region filling process different from each wedgelet pattern tobe derived.

The pattern storage section 1464 stores the pattern filled by the regionfilling section 1463 in the wedge pattern table 145T. In the derivationof the basic pattern, the number of tables NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]stored in the wedge pattern table 145T before the derivation of thebasic pattern is set in the variable startPos and the number of tablesNumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]−1 stored in the wedge pattern table 145Tafter the derivation of the basic pattern is set the variable endPos.Here, the variable startPos becomes 0 and the variable endPos becomesthe number of the wedge pattern table 145T after the derivation of thefirst basic pattern.

(S1002) Generating First Rotation Pattern of First Basic Pattern

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates a rotationpattern of the basic pattern by reading the basic pattern stored in thewedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating the basic pattern(equivalent to (b) of FIG. 16). Here, the wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=1 illustrated in FIG. 13(b) is generated.Specifically, a rotated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is derived throughthe following process ROT90 obtained by substituting cInc=0 and sInc=−1to the process ROT using each WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][pos]designated by pos from startPos (here, 0) to endPos (here, the number ofwedge tables−1 after derivation of the first basic pattern) in the wedgepattern table 145T as a reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ].

(Process ROT90) cInc = 0 sInc = −1 iOffset = patternSize − 1 jOffset = 0for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i= iOffset + cInc * x + sInc * y = patternSize − 1 − y j = jOffset −sInc * x + cInc * y = 0 wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j] }

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 according to the embodimentgenerates the target wedgelet pattern wedgePattern[x][y] from the inputreference wedgelet pattern refPattern[i][j] and uses a valuerefPattern[i][j] at the coordinates (i, j) of the reference wedgeletpattern as a value wedgePattern[x][y] of the target wedgelet pattern atthe coordinates (x, y) obtained by converting the coordinates (i, j) onthe reference wedgelet pattern with rotation matrix. Since the linesegment drawing process and the region filling process in which aprocessing amount is large are substituted with a rotation process inwhich the processing amount is small, the advantageous effect ofreducing the processes is obtained.

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 derives the wedgeletpattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] which is rotation pattern using the wedgeletpattern between the starting and ending points set by the basic patternsetting section 1461 as an input refPattern[ ][ ].

The coordinates (x, y) on the target pattern may be converted into thecoordinates (i, j) on the reference pattern without converting thecoordinates (i, j) into the coordinates (x, y) on the target pattern,and a pixel refPattern[i][j] at the coordinates (i, j) on the referencepattern may be substituted as a pixel wedgePattern[x][y] at thecoordinates (x, y) on the target pattern. Even in this case, (i, j) and(x, y) are assumed to be converted with a rotation matrix. That is, arelation of i=(cos θ)x+(sin θ)y and j=−(sin θ)x+(cos θ)y is satisfied.

In a generation example of the first rotation pattern of the first basicpattern, the following code may be set.

for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i= 0 * x + 1 * y j = −1 * x + 0 * y wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j] }

The generated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is stored in the patternstorage section 1464.

(S1003) Generating Second Rotation Pattern of First Basic Pattern

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates a rotationpattern of the basic pattern by reading the basic pattern stored in thewedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating the basic pattern(equivalent to (c) of FIG. 16). Here, the wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=2 illustrated in FIG. 13(c) is generated.Specifically, a rotated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is derived throughthe following process ROT180 obtained by substituting cInc=−1 and sInc=0to the process ROT using each WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][pos]designated by pos from startPos (here, 0) to endPos in the wedge patterntable 145T as a reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ].

(Process ROT180) cInc = −1 sInc = 0 iOffset = patternSize − 1 jOffset =patternSize − 1 for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x <patternSize; x++) { i = iOffset + cInc * x + sInc * y = patternSize − 1− x j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y = patternSize − 1 − ywedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j] }

The generated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is stored in the patternstorage section 1464.

(S1004) Generating Third Rotation Pattern of First Basic Pattern

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates a rotationpattern of the basic pattern by reading the basic pattern stored in thewedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating the basic pattern(equivalent to (d) of FIG. 16). Here, the wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=3 illustrated in FIG. 13(d) is generated.Specifically, a rotated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is derived throughthe following process R270 obtained by substituting cInc=0 and sInc=−1to the process ROT using each WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][pos]designated by pos from startPos (here, 0) to endPos in the wedge patterntable 145T as a reference pattern refPattern[ ][ ].

(Process ROT270) cInc = 0 sInc = −1 iOffset = 0 jOffset = patternSize −1 for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) {i = iOffset + cInc * x + sInc * y = y j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y= patternSize − 1 − x wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j] }

The generated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is stored in the patternstorage section 1464.

(S1005) Generating Second Basic Pattern

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 generates the second basicpattern in the basic pattern generation section 1461 (equivalent to (a)of FIG. 16).

The basic pattern generation section 1461 sets the starting point (xS,yS) and the ending point (xE, yE). Specifically, in the first loopvariable m (where m=0 to wBlkSize−1) and the second loop variable n(where n=0 to wBlkSize−1), xS, yS, xE, yE are set by the followingformulae.xS=myS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:nyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n:wBlkSize−1That is, the following setting is performed.xS=m*1yS=0xE=nyE=wBlkSize−1The following derivation may be performed setting xPosS, yPosS, xPosE,and yPosE as initial values, using xIncS, yIncS, xIncE, and yIncE asincrements, and using xPosS=0, yPosS=0, xPosE=0, yPosE=wBlkSize−1,xIncS=1, yIncS=0, xIncE=1, and yIncE=0 which are values illustrated in(e) of FIG. 19.xS=(xPosS+m*xIncS)yS=(yPosS+m*yIncS)xE=(xPosE+n*xIncE)yE=(yPosE+n*yIncE)

The second basic pattern is a pattern in which movement directions ofthe starting and ending points are parallel to each other. That is, thesecond basic pattern indicates a pattern in which the movement directionof the ending point is also a horizontal direction (xIncE=1, yIncE=0) ina case in which the movement direction of the starting point is ahorizontal direction (xIncS=1, yIncS=0). A component in a directionvertical to the movement direction, here, the vertical direction, is afixed value. When the movement directions are parallel to each other,the directions may be inverted as in (xIncS=1, yIncS=0) and (xIncE=−1,yIncE=0).

The second basic pattern described here is the pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=4. As described in FIG. 13(e), the starting pointis a point on the line segment S of the top side of the block and theending point is a point on the line segment E of the bottom side of theblock.

The second basic pattern can be set to the pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=5. As described in FIG. 13(f), the starting pointis a point on the line segment S of the left side of the block and theending point is a point on the line segment E of the right side of theblock. In a case in which the second basic pattern is set to the patternof the wedge orientation wedgeOri=5, xPosS=0, yPosS=0,xPosE=patternSize−1, yPosE=0, xIncS=0, yIncS=1, xIncE=0, and yIncE=1 areset. That is, the following setting is performed.xS=0yS=m*1xE=patternSize−1yE=n*1

Even in this case, the second basic pattern is a pattern in whichmovement directions of the starting and ending points are parallel toeach other. That is, the second basic pattern indicates a pattern inwhich the movement direction of the ending point is also a verticaldirection (xIncE=0, yIncE=1) in a case in which the movement directionof the starting point is a vertical direction (xIncS=0, yIncS=1). Acomponent in a direction vertical to the movement direction, here, thehorizontal direction, is a fixed value. When the movement directions areparallel to each other, the directions may be inverted as in (xIncS=0,yIncS=1) and (xIncE=0, yIncE=−1).

The region filling section 1463 fills one region between two regionsdivided by a line segment derived by the line segment drawing section1462 with 1. The other region remains as 0. Specifically, the filling isperformed through a process indicated by the following pseudo-code.

The generated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is stored in the patternstorage section 1464. In the derivation of the basic pattern, the numberof tables NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize] stored in the wedge patterntable 145T before the derivation of the basic pattern is set in thevariable startPos and the number of tables NumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize]−1 stored in the wedge pattern table 145T after the derivationof the basic pattern is set the variable endPos.

(S1006) Generating First Rotation Pattern of Second Basic Pattern

The rotation pattern generation section 1465 generates a rotationpattern of the second basic pattern by reading the second basic patternstored in the wedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating thesecond basic pattern. Here, the wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri=5 illustrated in FIG. 13(f) is generated.Specifically, a rotated pattern wedgePattern[ ] is derived using eachWedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][pos] designated by pos from startPos toendPos in the wedge pattern table 145T as a reference patternrefPattern[ ][ ].

cInc = 0 sInc = 1 iOffset = 0 jOffset = patternSize − 1 for (y = 0; y <patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i = iOffset +cInc * x + sInc * y = y j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y = patternSize− 1 − x wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j] }

The generated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is stored in the patternstorage section 1464.

(Embodiment of Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4)

Hereinafter, a wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ which is amodification example of the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4will be described. FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the configurationof the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′. The wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4′ is configured to include the basic patterngeneration section 1461, a pattern storage section 1464′, and a rotationpattern generation section 1565′.

(Rotation Pattern Generation Section 1465′)

The rotation pattern generation section 1465′ performs inversion in somecases when a target pattern is set based on the reference patternrefPattern. Specifically, the rotation pattern generation section 1465′performs a process of a pseudo-code indicated in the following processROT.

(Process ROT) cInc = wedgeOri == 2 ? −1 : 0; sInc = (wedgeOri == 1 ? −1: 1) * (1 + cInc); iOffset = cInc + sInc < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0jOffset = −sInc + cInc + < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0 for (y = 0; y <patternSize; y++) { for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i = iOffset +cInc * x + sInc * y j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y wedgePattern[x][y]= refPattern[iOffset][jOffset] ? refPattern[i][j] : 1− refPattern[i][j]formula R2 } }

Formula R2 is a formula in a case in which inversion is performedaccording to a condition in addition to rotation so that the value ofthe wedgelet pattern at the top left coordinates (0, 0) of the targetpattern is 1.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ according to the embodiment. The region fillingsection 1463 generates a wedgelet pattern in which the value of thewedgelet pattern at the top left coordinates is 1. The rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ performing a process of formula R2 setsrefPattern[i][j] as a target pattern wedgePattern[x][y] withoutinversion after the rotation process in a case in which the value of thewedgelet pattern at the top left coordinates after the rotation is 1, asillustrated in FIG. 24(a), and performs the inversion after the rotationprocess and sets 1−refPattern[i][j] (=! refPattern[i][j]) as the targetpattern wedgePattern[x][y] in a case in which the value of the wedgeletpattern at the top left coordinates after the rotation is 0, asillustrated in FIG. 24(b). Here, the inversion refers to a manipulationof swapping 1 and 0.

Here, a value refPattern[i0][j0] of the reference pattern at thecoordinates (i0, j0) on a certain reference pattern is referred as avalue of the top left coordinates (0,0) of the rotated target pattern.The rotation pattern generation section 1465′ sets refPattern[i][j]without inversion in a case in which the value refPattern[i0][j0] of thereference pattern at the top left coordinates after the rotation is 1,and performs the inversion and sets 1−refPattern[i][j] in a case inwhich the value refPattern [i0][j0] of the reference pattern is 0.

The coordinates (x, y) after the rotation is (0,0) and the coordinates(i0, j0) before the rotation is obtained as follows.i0=iOffset+cInc*0+sInc*0=iOffsetj0=jOffset−sInc*0+cInc*0=jOffsetIn sum, (i0, j0)=(iOffset, jOffset) and a value of the reference patternmapped to the top left coordinates after the rotation isrefPattern[iOffset][jOffset]. Accordingly, a rotation pattern in whichthe value of the pattern at the top left coordinates is normally 1 canbe derived by setting refPattern[i][j] as the value of the rotationpattern without inverting the reference pattern refPattern[i][j] in acase in which refPattern[iOffset][jOffset] is 1 and by inverting thereference pattern refPattern[i][j] and setting 1−refPattern[i][j] as thevalue of the rotation pattern in a case in whichrefPattern[iOffset][jOffset] is 0.

In this way, in a case in which the region filling section 1463 includedin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ generates the wedgeletpattern in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is normally 1, itis possible to obtain the advantageous effect that the rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ included in the wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4′ can easily generate a pattern in which the top left ofthe wedgelet pattern is normally 1 (or normally 0).

FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′. In FIG. 16, the pixelvalue at the top left coordinates of the wedgelet pattern is invertedbefore rotation and after rotation. In FIG. 23, however, the pixel valueat the top left coordinates of the wedgelet pattern is not inverted. InFIG. 23, a change in the value of the wedgelet pattern at the top leftcoordinates can be eliminated by performing inversion according to acondition when the rotation pattern is generated as in formula R2. In acase in the value of the wedgelet pattern at the top left coordinates isfixed, a pattern in which 1 and 0 of the wedgelet pattern are invertedis not generated by the basic pattern generation section 1461 and therotation pattern generation section 1565′. Therefore, a matchingdetermination process in the pattern storage section 1464′ can besimpler than that of the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4.

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4′ according to another embodiment of theembodiment. The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ includes aregion filling section 1463′ and a rotation pattern generation section1465″ instead of the region filling section 1463 and the rotationpattern generation section 1465. The region filling section 1463′ fillsthe region so that the value of the pattern at the top left coordinatesis normally 0. The rotation pattern generation section 1465″ uses thefollowing formula R2′ instead formula R2.wedgePattern[x][y]=refPattern[iOffset][jOffset]==0?refPattern[i][j]:1−refPattern[i][j]  formulaR2′refPattern[iOffset][jOffset]==0 can also be processed even in !refPattern[iOffset][jOffset] using the logic NOT !.

In a case in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is normally 0 inthe region filling section 1463 included in the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4′, it is possible to obtain the advantageouseffect that the rotation pattern generation section 1465″ with theforegoing configuration does not change the value of the pattern at thetop left coordinates of the wedgelet pattern between before rotation andafter rotation.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a pattern storagesection 1464′ included in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4′.

(S2011) In a case in which it is determined that the wedgelet pattern ismatched in the matching determination C1, the pattern storage section1464′ ends the process without storage. In a case in which it isdetermined that the wedgelet pattern is not matched, the processtransitions to S2013. The pattern storage section 1464 compares thepattern WedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][k][x][y] stored in the wedgepattern table 145T5 of an index k (0 to NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]−1)to a target pattern wedgePattern[x][y]. When any one pattern is notmatched, a matching flag is set to 0 (a matching determination processC1).

// matching determination process C1 for k = 0 toNumWedgePattern[log2BlkSize] − 1 patIdenticalFlag = 1 for x, y = 0 to (1<< log2BlkSize) − 1, if (wedgePattern[x][y] !=WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][k][x][y]) patIdenticalFlag = 0

(S2013) The pattern storage section 1464′ stores the generated wedgeletpattern in the wedge pattern table 145T5 in a case in which the wedgeletpattern is not matched in the matching determination C1, that is, onlyin a case in which patIdenticalFlag is 0. When the wedgelet pattern isstored, the number of wedge patterns NumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize]increases by 1.

In the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′, the region fillingsection 1463 and the rotation pattern generation section 1465′ (or therotation pattern generation section 1465″) generate the wedgelet patternaccording to a rule that the top left pixel of the wedgelet pattern isnormally 1 (or 0). Therefore, it is not necessary to perform theinversion matching determination C2 in the pattern storage section1464′. Therefore, since only the matching determination C1 may beperformed in the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′, it ispossible to obtain the advantageous effect of reducing a process ofmatching whether the wedgelet pattern stored in the wedge pattern table145T5 is already matched with the generated pattern.

(Another Configuration of Rotation Pattern Generation Section 1465′)

In the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′, the rotation patterngeneration section 1465′ may use the following formula R3 simpler thanformula R2 and formula R2′.

(Process ROT) cInc = wedgeOri == 2 ? −1 : 0; sInc = (wedgeOri == 1 ? −1: 1) * (1 + cInc) iOffset = cInc + sInc < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0jOffset = −sInc + cInc + < 0 ? patternSize − 1 ? 0 for (y = 0; y <patternSize; y++) { for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i = iOffset +cInc * x + sInc * y j = jOffset − sInc * x + cInc * y wedgePattern[x][y]= 1 − refPattern[i][j] formula R3 } }

The rotation pattern generation section 1465′ using formula R3 does notensure that the top left pixel of the wedgelet pattern derived as arotation pattern is normally 1 (or 0). However, in a case in which thewedgelet pattern is generated so that the top left pixel of thereference pattern is normally 1 (or 0), the top left pixel of thewedgelet pattern is 1 (or 0) in many cases. Thus, it is not necessary toperform the inversion matching determination C2 in the pattern storagesection 1464′. Therefore, since only the matching determination C1 maybe performed in the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′, it ispossible to obtain the advantageous effect of reducing a process ofmatching whether the wedgelet pattern stored in the wedge pattern table145T5 is already matched with the generated pattern. Also, no problemoccurs even when some of the inverted and matched patterns are stored inthe wedge pattern table 145T5.

(Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4″)

The wedge patterns (the wedgelet patterns) of the rotation patternsgenerated from the rotation pattern generation sections 1465 and 1465′are already generated in many cases, and are not matched with the wedgepatterns (the wedgelet patterns) already generated and stored in thewedge pattern table 145T5. Therefore, it is suitable to simplify theoperation of the pattern storage section so that the matchingdetermination is omitted in the rotation pattern. Hereinafter, thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4″ including the pattern storagesection 1464″ with such a configuration will be described.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4″ has the sameconfiguration as the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 and thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′, but the pattern storagesection 1464″ is used instead of the pattern storage section 1464 andthe pattern storage section 1464′.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a pattern storagesection 1464″ included in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4″.

(S2020) In a case in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri is apredetermined value, here, the wedgeOri=0 or 4 indicating the basicpattern (the first basic pattern or the second basic pattern), thepattern storage section 1464″ allows the process to transition to S2021and stores the wedgelet pattern in the wedge pattern table 145T5according to a condition. In other cases (here, wedgeOri=1, 2, 3, and 5indicating the rotation patterns), the process transitions to S2023 andthe wedgelet pattern is stored in the wedge pattern table 145T5irrespective of the condition.

(S2021) The pattern storage section 1464″ allows the process totransition to S2025 without storing the wedgelet pattern in a case inwhich the wedgelet pattern is already matched with the wedgelet patternstored in the wedge pattern table 145T5. In a case in which the wedgeletpattern is not matched, the process transitions to S2023. In thematching determination, the matching determination C1 and the inversionmatching determination C2 described above can be used. In a case inwhich the rotation pattern generation section 1465′ generates thewedgelet pattern using formula R2 or R2′ for the inversion according tothe condition at the time of reference or formula R3 for normalinversion at the time of reference so that the top left pixel of thewedgelet pattern is 1 (or 0), it is suitable for the pattern storagesection 1464″ to perform only the matching determination C1 withoutperforming the inversion matching determination C2 as in the patternstorage section 1464′.

(S2023) The pattern storage section 1464″ stores the generated wedgeletpattern in the wedge pattern table 145T5. A case in which the wedgeletpattern is stored is a case of the basic pattern, a case in which thewedgelet pattern is not already matched with the wedgelet pattern storedin the wedge pattern table 145T5, or a case of the rotation pattern.When the wedgelet pattern is stored, the number of wedge patternsNumWedgePattern[log 2BlkSize] increases by 1.

In the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4″ including the patternstorage section 1464″ with the foregoing configuration, it is possibleto obtain the advantageous effect in which a processing amount used forthe matching determination is small since the matching determination isperformed only with pattern between the patterns matched with the basicpattern further in the wedge orientation wedgeOri.

(Example in which Second Basic Pattern is Derived Earlier)

In the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4, the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4′, and the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4″ described above, after the first basic pattern generated from thestarting and ending points that have the relation in which the sides onwhich the starting and ending points are located are orthogonal to eachother, the second basic pattern generated from the starting and endingpoints that have the relation in which the sides on which the startingand ending points are located are parallel to each other. However, thesecond basic pattern may be generated before the first basic pattern.FIG. 28 is another example of a flowchart illustrating the wedgeletpattern generation process in the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4. The second basic pattern may be generated before the first basicpattern.

(S1011) Generating Second Basic Pattern

The second basic pattern is generated through the same operation asS1005 described above with reference to (e) of FIG. 16 and (e) of FIG.23.

(S1012) Generating Second Basic Pattern and First Rotation Pattern

The first rotation pattern of the second basic pattern is generatedthrough the same operation as S1006 described above with reference to(f) of FIG. 16 and (f) of FIG. 23.

(S1013) Generating First Basic Pattern

The first basic pattern is generated through the same operation as S1001described above with reference to (a) of FIG. 16 and (a) of FIG. 23.

(S1014) Generating Second Basic Pattern and First Rotation Pattern

The first rotation pattern of the first basic pattern is generatedthrough the same operation as S1002 described above with reference to(b) of FIG. 16 and (b) of FIG. 23.

(S1015) Generating Second Basic Pattern and First Rotation Pattern

The second rotation pattern of the first basic pattern is generatedthrough the same operation as S1003 described above with reference to(c) of FIG. 16 and (c) of FIG. 23.

(S1016) Generating Second Basic Pattern and First Rotation Pattern

The third rotation pattern of the first basic pattern is generatedthrough the same operation as S1004 described above with reference to(d) of FIG. 16 and (d) of FIG. 23.

In a case in which the second basic pattern is generated earlier, theadvantageous effects of the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4are the same as those of the case in which the first basic pattern isgenerated earlier. That is, the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4 according to the embodiment does not generate all of the wedgeletpatterns through a line segment drawing process and a region fillingprocess performed using the line segment drawing section 1462 and theregion filling section 1463 and generates some of the wedgelet patternsthrough a rotation process performed using the rotation patterngeneration section 1565. Since the line segment drawing process and theregion filling process in which a processing amount is large aresubstituted with a rotation process in which the processing amount issmall, the advantageous effect of reducing the processes is obtained.

[Wedge Pattern Table 145T5]

The wedge pattern table 145T5 records the wedge pattern tableWedgePatternTable according to the block size supplied from the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4.

(Operations and Advantageous Effects)

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 included in the movingimage decoding device 1 according to the above-described embodiment doesnot generate all of the wedgelet patterns through a line segment drawingprocess and a region filling process performed using the line segmentdrawing section 1462 and the region filling section 1463 and generatessome of the wedgelet patterns through a rotation process performed usingthe rotation pattern generation section 1565. Since the line segmentdrawing process and the region filling process in which a processingamount is large are substituted with a rotation process in which theprocessing amount is small, the advantageous effect of reducing theprocesses is obtained.

The line segment drawing section 1462 included in the moving imagedecoding device 1 according to the above-described embodiment sets 1 inthe coordinates (xPos>>refShift, yPos>>refShift) obtained by shifting,to the right side by refShift, the coordinates (xPos, yPos) of the linesegment obtained from the starting point (xS, yS) and the ending point(xE, yE) on the expanded block with the size patternSize<<refShiftobtained by shifting the wedgelet pattern size patternSize to the leftside by refShift, and thus it is possible to obtain the advantageouseffect of preventing the memory size used for the line segment drawingprocess from increasing.

It is possible to obtain the advantageous effect that the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4′ included in the moving image decodingdevice 1 according to the above-described embodiment can easily generatethe pattern in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is normally 1(or normally 0) using the rotation pattern generation section 1465′ forinversion along with rotation (in the case of formula R2).Alternatively, by using the rotation pattern generation section 1465′for inversion along with rotation, it is possible to easily generate thepattern in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is 1 (or normally0) in many cases (in the case of formula R3).

The region filling section 1463 included in the moving image decodingdevice 1 according to the above-described embodiment searches for apixel in which a pattern is 1 and sets continuous pixels to 1 when thereis the pixel in which the pattern is 1. Thus, it is possible to obtainthe advantageous effect of commonly using one region filling processwithout using a different region filling process for each wedgeletpattern to be derived.

The pattern storage section 1464″ of the wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4″ included in the moving image decoding device 1 accordingto the above-described embodiment performs the matching determination ononly the basic patterns and storing the rotation patterns withoutperforming the matching determination. Therefore, it is possible toobtain the advantageous effect of reducing a processing amount.

(Modification Example of Wedgelet Pattern Generation Section 145T4)

Hereinafter, a wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4B which is amodification example of the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 30, the wedgelet pattern generation section145T4B is configured to include a basic pattern generation section 1461,a pattern storage section 1464, and a rotation pattern generationsection 1565B, as in wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4. Thebasic pattern generation section 1461 is configured to include a linesegment drawing section 1462 and a region filling section 1463.

FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a wedgelet pattern generation processin the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4. As illustrated in (a)of FIG. 31, in the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4B accordingto the embodiment, the basic pattern generation section 1461 generates awedgelet pattern set that forms the first basic pattern. Next, asillustrated in (b), the rotation pattern generation section 1465Bgenerates a first rotation pattern of the first basic pattern (firstrotation pattern) which is a wedgelet pattern set by rotating anindividual wedgelet pattern included in the first basic pattern which isa immediately previously generated wedgelet pattern set. Next, asillustrated in (c), the rotation pattern generation section 1465Bgenerates a second rotation pattern of the first basic pattern (secondrotation pattern) which is a wedgelet pattern set by rotating anindividual wedgelet pattern included in the first rotation pattern ofthe first basic pattern which is a immediately previously generatedwedgelet pattern set. Next, as illustrated in (d), the rotation patterngeneration section 1465B generates a third rotation pattern of the firstbasic pattern (third rotation pattern) by rotating an individualwedgelet pattern included in the second rotation pattern of the firstbasic pattern which is a immediately previously generated wedgeletpattern set. Further, as illustrated in (e) of FIG. 31, in the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4B according to the embodiment, the basicpattern generation section 1461 generates a wedgelet pattern set thatforms the second basic pattern. Next, as illustrated in (f), therotation pattern generation section 1465B generates a first rotationpattern of the second basic pattern (fourth rotation pattern) which is awedgelet pattern set by rotating an individual wedgelet pattern includedin the second basic pattern which is a immediately previously generatedwedgelet pattern set. In the embodiment, to generate the first rotationpattern, the second rotation pattern, the third rotation pattern, andthe fourth rotation pattern, the rotation pattern generation section1465B may perform clockwise rotation of, for example, 90 degrees.However, rotation of 270 degrees may be performed rather than 90degrees.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4B.

(S0101) A variable posStart is set to 0.

(S0102) A loop related to the wedge orientation wedgeOri starts. Then,0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are set in order in the wedge orientation wedgeOriand processes from S0103 to S0114 are performed.

(S0103) The number of wedge patterns NumWedgePattern at the present timepoint is set in the variable posStart (also referred to asposWedgePattern).

(S0104) In a case in which the wedge orientation wedgeOri is the basicpattern, that is, a case in which wedgeOri=0 or wedgeOri=4, the processtransitions to S0105 to generate each wedgelet pattern of the wedgeorientation wedgeOri through the line segment drawing process and theregion filling process. In a case in which the wedge orientationwedgeOri is a pattern other than the basic pattern (wedgeOri=1, 2, 3,and 5), the process transitions to S0109 to generate the wedgeletpattern through a rotation process.

(S0105) A loop related to variables m and n for controlling a startingpoint position and an ending point position starts. Loop variables areassumed to be m and n. Hereinafter, the processes from S0106 to S0108are performed on m and n of m=0 to wBlkSize−1 and n=0 to wBlkSize−1.Thus, the wedgelet patterns are generating while changing the startingand ending points of the wedge orientation wedgeOri. In addition,wBlkSize is a block size (virtual block size). As will be describedbelow and will be described below in a modification example of the basicpattern generation section 1461, the processes from S0106 to S0108 areperformed on m and n of m=0 to (wBlkSize/sizeScaleS)−1 and n=0 to(wBlkSize/sizeScaleE)−1.

(S0106) the line segment drawing section 1462 draws a line segment andthe region filling section 1463 fills a region to generate a wedgeletpattern which is a basic pattern with the starting and ending pointsindicated by the variables m and n and the wedge orientation wedgeOri.Specifically, the basic pattern generation section 1461 derives thestarting point (xS, yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) by the followingformulae.xS=myS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:nyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n:wBlkSize−1

The basic pattern generation section 1461 may derive the starting point(xS, yS) and the ending point (xE, yE) by the following formulae, aswill be described below as a modification example.xS=m*sizeScaleSyS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:sizeScaleEyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n*sizeScaleE:wBlkSize−1

In addition, sizeScaleS and sizeScaleE are variables for changing thestarting and ending points at the intervals of sizeScaleS andsizeScaleE, respectively, and are derived by the following formulae.sizeScaleS=(log 2BlkSize>3)?2:1sizeScaleE=(wedgeOri<4&& log 2BlkSize>3)?2:1Here, log 2BlkSize is a logarithm of the block size to base 2.

(S0107) When the generated wedgelet pattern satisfies a predeterminedcondition, the wedgelet pattern is stored in the wedge pattern table145T5. In a case in which the wedgelet pattern is stored, the number ofwedge patterns NumWedgePattern increases by 1.

(S0108) The loop related to the variables m and n for controlling thestarting point position and the ending point position ends.

(S0109) The number of wedge patterns NumWedgePattern−1 at the currenttime point is set in posEnd.

(S0110) A loop related to the index pos of the reference pattern starts.A range of pos is a range from posStart to posEnd.

(S0111) The rotation pattern generation section 1465B generates thewedgelet pattern which is a rotation pattern using the wedgelet patternindicated by pos stored in the wedge pattern table 145T5 as thereference wedgelet pattern.

(S0112) When the generated wedgelet pattern satisfies the predeterminedcondition, the wedgelet pattern is stored in the wedge pattern table145T5. In a case in which the wedgelet pattern is stored, the number ofwedge patterns NumWedgePattern increases by 1.

(S0113) The loop related to the index pos of the reference pattern ends.

(S0114) The loop related to the wedge orientation wedgeOri ends.

Here, the predetermined condition is that the matching determination C1or C2 is performed in the pattern storage section 164 and the storedwedgelet pattern is not overlapped with the generated wedgelet patternas a result.

As described above, in the operation of the basic pattern generationsection 1461, the starting point (xS, yS) and the ending point (xE, yE)are set in the variable m that takes each value in the range from 0 towBlkSize−1 and the variable n that takes each value in the range from 0to wBlkSize−1 in wedgeOri=0 (the first basic pattern) and wedgeOri=4(the second basic pattern), and each pattern is derived by the linesegment drawing section 1462 and the region filling section 1463. Sincethe line segment drawing section 1462 and the region filling section1463 have been described above, the line segment drawing section 1462and the region filling section 1463 will not be described.

(Modification Example of Basic Pattern Generation Section)

The basic pattern generation section 1461 may change a unit used togenerate a wedge rate table as a modification example in addition to theabove-described method. Specifically, the variable m that takes eachvalue in a range from 0 to (wBlkSize/sizeScaleS)−1 and the variable nthat takes each value in a range from 0 to (wBlkSize/sizeScaleE)−1 areset, and the starting points (xS, yS), and the ending point (xE, yE) arederived by the following formulae.xS=m*sizeScaleSyS=0xE=(wedgeOri==0)?0:sizeScaleEyE=(wedgeOri==0)?n*sizeScaleE:wBlkSize−1At this time, sizeScaleS and sizeScaleE are variables for processing ageneration unit (thinning). The line segment drawing section 1462 andthe region filling section 1463 draw a line segment and fill a regionusing a starting point changed in a sizeScaleS unit and an ending pointchanged in a sizeScaleE unit to derive a wedgelet pattern.(Rotation Pattern Generation Section 1465B)

As illustrated in FIG. 31, the rotation pattern generation section 1465Bgenerates a rotation pattern by reading the wedgelet pattern stored inthe wedge pattern table 145T one by one and rotating the wedgeletpattern (equivalent to S0110 to S0113 of FIG. 32). Specifically, arotated pattern wedgePattern[ ][ ] is derived using eachWedgePatternTable[log 2BlkSize][pos] designated by pos from startPos toendPos in the wedge pattern table 145T as a reference patternrefPattern[ ][ ].

The rotation pattern generation section 1465B included in the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4B will be described. The above-describedrotation pattern generation section 1465 has rotations of 90 degrees,180 degrees, and 270 degrees, but the rotation pattern generationsection 1465B according to the embodiment has only one rotationdirection (specifically, 90 degrees or 270 degrees).

The rotation pattern generation section 1465B according to theembodiment performs a rotation process of 90 degrees indicated by thefollowing process. As described above in the process ROT90, this case isequivalent to a case in which cInc=0 and sInc=1 are set in the processROT described in the rotation pattern generation section 1465. Here, acase of formula R1 in which inversion is not performed at the time ofderiving the rotation pattern wedgePattern[x][y] from the referencepattern will be described. However, formula R2 or R2′ in which thereference pattern refPattern[i][j] is inverted according to thecondition or formula R3 in which the reference pattern is normallyinverted may be used.

(Process ROT90)

for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i= y j = patternSize − 1 − x wedgePattern[x][y] = refPattern[i][j]formula R1 }

Since the reference pattern refPattern=wedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][pos], a reference process and a rotation process of thereference pattern refPattern included in the wedge pattern table aresimultaneously expressed as follows. Here, an example is indicated inwhich formula R3 (formula R3′) that normally inverts the referencepattern refPattern[i][j] (where i=y and j=patternSize−1−x) is used atthe time of deriving the rotation pattern wedgePattern[x][y] from thereference pattern refPattern[i][j].

for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) {WedgePattern[x][y] = 1 −WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][pos][y][patternSize − 1 − x] formula R3′}Instead of formula R3 (formula R3′) that normally inverts a pattern tobe referred to, formula R1 that does not invert a pattern or formula R2or R2′ that inverts a pattern according to a condition may be used. In acase in which formula R2′ is used, iOffset=0 and jOffset=patternSize−1are satisfied in cInc=0 and sInc=1. Therefore, the following formulaR2B′ obtained by substituting iOffset and jOffset to formula R2′ isused.wedgePattern[x][y]=refPattern[0][patternSize−1]==0?refPattern[i][j]:1−refPattern[i][j]  formulaR2B′Instead of the foregoing process, the rotation pattern generationsection 1465B may perform a rotation process of 270 degrees indicated bythe following process, as described above in the process ROT270 (arotation pattern generation section 1465C). This case is equivalent to acase in which cInc=0 and sInc=−1 are set in the process ROT described inthe rotation pattern generation section 1465.

for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) { i= patternSize − 1 − y j = x wedgePattern[x][y] = −refPattern[i][j]formula R3 }Instead of formula R3, formula R1, R2, or R2′ described above may beused. In the case of formula R2′, iOffset=patternSize−1 and jOffset=0are satisfied in cInc=0 and sInc=−1. Therefore, the following formulaR2C′ obtained by substituting iOffset and jOffset to formula R2′ isused.wedgePattern[x][y]=refPattern[patternSize−1][0]==0?refPattern[i][j]:1−refPattern[i][j]  formulaR2C′A rotation process of 270 degrees in a case in which formula R3 thatnormally inverts a pattern to be referred is used is as follows.

for (y = 0; y < patternSize; y++) for (x = 0; x < patternSize; x++) {WedgePattern[x][y] = 1 − WedgePatternTable[log2BlkSize][pos][patternSize− 1 − y][x] formula R3 (formula R3′′) }

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4B according to theabove-described embodiment does not generate all of the wedgeletpatterns through a line segment drawing process and a region fillingprocess performed using the line segment drawing section 1462 and theregion filling section 1463 and generates some of the wedgelet patternsthrough a rotation process performed using the rotation patterngeneration section 1565B. Since the line segment drawing process and theregion filling process in which a processing amount is large aresubstituted with a rotation process in which the processing amount issmall, the advantageous effect of reducing the processes is obtained.Further, since the rotation pattern generation section 1565B performs aprocess of only rotation of a single angle (here, 90 degrees or 270degrees), it is possible to obtain the advantageous effect that anecessary rotation process is easy.

[Moving Image Coding Device]

Hereinafter, the moving image coding device 2 according to theembodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 29.

(Overview of Moving Image Coding Device)

Roughly speaking, the moving image coding device 2 is a device thatgenerates the coded data #1 by coding an input image #10 and outputs thecoded data #1. Here, the input image #10 is a layer image that is formedby one or a plurality of viewpoint images TexturePic and a depth mapDepthPic of the same time corresponding to the viewpoint imageTexturePic.

(Configuration of Moving Image Coding Device)

First, an example of the configuration of the moving image coding device2 will be described with reference to FIG. 29. FIG. 29 is a functionalblock diagram illustrating the configuration of the moving image codingdevice 2. As illustrated in FIG. 29, the moving image coding device 2includes a coding setting section 21, an inverse quantization andinverse transform section 22, a predicted image generation section 23,an addition section 24, a frame memory 25, a subtraction section 26, atransform and quantization section 27, and a coded data generationsection 29.

The coding setting section 21 generates image data and various kinds ofsetting information related to the coding based on the input image #10.

Specifically, the coding setting section 21 generates subsequent imagedata and setting information.

First, the coding setting section 21 generates a CU image #100 in regardto the target CU by sequentially separating the input image #10 in theslice unit, the tree block unit, and the CU unit.

The coding setting section 21 generates header information H′ based on aresult of the partition process. The header information H′ includes (1)information regarding the size and shape of a tree block belong to atarget slice and the position of the tree block in the target slice and(2) CU information CU′ regarding the size and shape of the CU belongingto each tree block and the position of the CU in the target tree block.

The coding setting section 21 further generates PT setting informationPTI′ with reference to the CU image #100 and the CU information CU′. ThePT setting information PTI′ includes (1) a partition pattern allocatableto each PU of the target CU and (2) information regarding allcombinations of the prediction modes allocated to each PU.

The coding setting section 21 supplies the CU image #100 to thesubtraction section 26. The coding setting section 21 supplies theheader information H′ to the coded data generation section 29. Thecoding setting section 21 supplies the PT setting information PTI′ tothe predicted image generation section 23.

The inverse quantization and inverse transform section 22 restores theprediction residual for each block by executing inverse quantization andinverse orthogonal transform the quantized prediction residual of eachblock supplied from the transform and quantization section 27. Since theinverse orthogonal transform has been described above in the inversequantization and inverse transform section 13 illustrated in FIG. 3, thedescription thereof will be omitted here.

The inverse quantization and inverse transform section 22 integrates theprediction residuals of the blocks according to the partition patterndesignated by the TT partition information (to be described later) togenerate a prediction residual D in regard to the target CU. The inversequantization and inverse transform section 22 supplies the generatedprediction residual D in regard to the target CU to the addition section24.

The predicted image generation section 23 generates a predicted imagePred in regard to the target CU with reference to the decoded image P′and the PT setting information PTI′ recorded on the frame memory 25. Thepredicted image generation section 23 sets the prediction parametersobtained through the predicted image generation process in the PTsetting information PTI′ and transmits the set PT setting informationPTI′ to the coded data generation section 29. Since the predicted imagegeneration process executed by the predicted image generation section 23is the same as that of the predicted image generation section 14included in the moving image decoding device 1, the description thereofwill be omitted here. That is, the predicted image generation section 14includes the DMM prediction section 145T configured to include the wedgepattern derivation section 145T2 and the DC prediction value derivationsection 145T3. The DMM prediction section 145T includes the wedgeletpattern generation section 145T4. The wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4 is configured to include the basic pattern generationsection 1461, the pattern storage section 1464, and the rotation patterngeneration section 1565, and the basic pattern generation section 1461is configured to include the line segment drawing section 1462 and theregion filling section 1463. Instead of the wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4, the wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ or thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ may be used. Instead of thewedgelet pattern generation section 145T4, the wedgelet patterngeneration section 145T4B including the above-described rotation patterngeneration section 1465B may be used.

The addition section 24 generates a decoded image P in regard to thetarget CU by adding the predicted image Pred supplied from the predictedimage generation section 23 and the prediction residual D supplied fromthe inverse quantization and inverse transform section 22.

The decoded images P are sequentially recorded on the frame memory 25.The decoded images corresponding to all of the tree blocks (for example,all of the tree blocks previous in a raster scan procedure) decodedearlier than the target tree block are recorded at a time point at whichthe target tree block is decoded on the frame memory 25.

The subtraction section 26 generates the prediction residual D in regardto the target CU by subtracting the predicted image Pred from the CUimage #100. The subtraction section 26 supplies the generated predictionresidual D to the transform and quantization section 27.

The transform and quantization section 27 generates a quantizedprediction residual D by executing orthogonal transform andquantization. Here, the orthogonal transform refers to transform to afrequency domain from a pixel region. Examples of inverse orthogonaltransform include a discrete cosine transform (DCT transform) anddiscrete sine transform (DST transform).

Specifically, the transform and quantization section 27 decides thepartition pattern to one or a plurality of blocks of the target CU withreference to the CU image #100 and the CU information CU′. Theprediction residual D is partitioned into prediction residuals of theblocks according to the decided partition pattern.

The transform and quantization section 27 generates a quantizedprediction residual of each block by generating the prediction residualin a frequency domain through orthogonal transform on the predictionresidual in regard to each block and subsequently quantizing theprediction residual in the frequency domain. In a case in which the SDCflag is 1, the transform and quantization section 27 omits the frequencyconversion and the quantization and sets the prediction residual D (orresSamples[x][y]) for each pixel of the target TU to 0.

The transform and quantization section 27 generates TT settinginformation TTI′ including the generated quantized prediction residualof each block, the TT partition information for designating thepartition pattern of the target CU, and information regarding all of thepossible partition patterns to the blocks of the target CU. Thetransform and quantization section 27 supplies the generated TT settinginformation TTI′ to the inverse quantization and inverse transformsection 22 and the coded data generation section 29.

The coded data generation section 29 codes the header information H′,the TT setting information TTI′, and the PT setting information PTI′,multiplex the coded header information H, the TT setting informationTTI, and the PT setting information PTI to generate the coded data #1,and outputs the coded data #1.

(Operations and Advantageous Effects)

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4 included in the movingimage coding device 2 according to the above-described embodiment doesnot generate all the wedgelet patterns through the line segment drawingprocess and the region filling process performed using a line segmentdrawing section 1462 and a region filling section 1463, but generatessome of the wedgelet patterns through a rotation process performed usingthe rotation pattern generation section 1565. Since the line segmentdrawing process and the region filling process in which a processingamount is large are substituted with a rotation process in which theprocessing amount is small, the advantageous effect of reducing theprocesses is obtained.

The line segment drawing section 1462 included in the moving imagecoding device 2 according to the above-described embodiment sets 1 inthe coordinates (xPos>>refShift, yPos>>refShift) obtained by shifting,to the right side by refShift, the line segment coordinates (xPos, yPos)obtained from the starting point (xS, yS) and the ending point (xE, yE)on the expanded block with the size patternSize<<refShift obtained byshifting the wedgelet pattern size patternSize to the left side byrefShift, and thus it is possible to obtain the advantageous effect ofpreventing the memory size used for the line segment drawing processfrom being increased.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4′ included in the movingimage coding device 2 according to the above-described embodiment obtainthe advantageous effect that the line segment drawing section 1462 andthe rotation pattern generation section 1465′ can easily generate thepattern in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is normally 1 (ornormally 0) (in the case of formula R2) or can easily generate thepattern in which the top left of the wedgelet pattern is 1 in many cases(or normally 0) by using inversion along with rotation (in the case offormula R3).

The region filling section 1463 included in the moving image codingdevice 2 according to the above-described embodiment searches a pixel inwhich the pattern is 1 and sets 1 in continuous pixels when there arethe pixels in which the pattern is 1. Thus, it is possible to obtain theadvantageous effect that one region filling process can be used withoutusing the region filling process different from each wedgelet pattern tobe derived.

The pattern storage section 1464″ of the wedgelet pattern generationsection 145T4″ included in the moving image coding device 2 according tothe above-described embodiment performs the matching determination ononly the basic pattern and stores the rotation pattern withoutperforming the matching determination, and thus it is possible to obtainthe advantageous effect of reducing a processing amount.

The wedgelet pattern generation section 145T4B included in the movingimage coding device 2 according to the above-described embodimentperforms the matching determination on only the basic pattern and storesthe rotation pattern without performing the matching determination, andthus it is possible to obtain the advantageous effect of reducing aprocessing amount.

A part of the moving image decoding device 1 or the moving image codingdevice 2 according to the above-described embodiment may be realized bya computer. In this case, a program realizing the control function maybe recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and a computersystem may be caused to read and execute the program recorded on therecording medium. The “computer system” stated herein is a computersystem embedded in either the moving image decoding device 1 or themoving image coding device 2 and is assumed to include hardware such asan OS or a peripheral device. The “computer-readable recording medium”refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disc, a magneto-opticaldisc, a ROM, or a CD-ROM or a storage device such as a hard diskembedded in a computer system. Further, the “computer-readable recordingmedium” may include a recording medium that retains a programdynamically for a short time, such as a communication line in a case inwhich a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or acommunication line such as a telephone line or a recording medium thatretains a program for a fixed time, such as a volatile memory inside acomputer system serving as a server or a client in this case. Theprogram may be a program that realizes some of the above-describedfunctions or may be a program that is realized by combining theabove-described functions with a program already recorded on a computersystem.

Parts or both of the moving image decoding device 1 and the moving imagecoding device 2 according to the above-described embodiment may berealized as an integrated circuit such as a large scale integration(LSI). Each of the functional blocks of the moving image decoding device1 and the moving image coding device 2 may be individually processed orsome or all of the functional blocks may be integrated to be processed.An integrated circuit system is not limited to an LSI, but may berealized as a dedicated circuit or a general processor. In a case inwhich an integrated circuit technology with which an LSI is substitutedwith an advance in semiconductor technologies appears, an integratedcircuit may be used in accordance with this technology.

[Supplements]

According to an aspect of the invention, in a DMM prediction device thatincludes DC prediction value derivation means for deriving a predictionvalue for each wedge pattern derived by wedgelet pattern generationmeans and for each region partitioned from the wedge pattern, thewedgelet pattern generation means includes the basic pattern generationsection that generates a basic pattern and the rotation patterngeneration section that derives a rotation pattern.

According to the aspect of the invention, the basic pattern generationsection is configured to include the line segment drawing section andthe region filling section.

According to the aspect of the invention, the rotation patterngeneration section generates a target wedgelet pattern from an inputreference wedgelet pattern and derives a value of the target wedgeletpattern at coordinates (x, y) using a value of the reference wedgeletpattern at coordinates (i, j) obtained by converting the coordinates (x,y) with a rotation matrix.

According to the aspect of the invention, the rotation patterngeneration section uses a value obtained by inverting the value of thereference wedgelet pattern on the coordinates (i, j) as the value of thetarget wedgelet pattern.

According to the aspect of the invention, the first and second basicpatterns are generated by the basic pattern generation section. Thewedgelet patterns are generated from the first rotation pattern of thefirst basic pattern, the second rotation pattern of the first basicpattern, and the third rotation pattern of the first basic patterngenerated from the first basic pattern by the rotation patterngeneration section and are generated from the first rotation pattern ofthe second basic pattern generated from the second basic pattern by therotation pattern generation section.

According to the aspect of the invention, the rotation patterngeneration section derives the rotation pattern using the wedgeletpattern between the starting and ending points set in the basic patternsetting section as an input.

According to the aspect of the invention, the line segment drawingsection sets 1 in the coordinates (xPos>>refShift, yPos>>refShift)obtained by shifting, to the right side by refShift, the coordinates(xPos, yPos) on the expanded block with the size patternSize<<refShiftobtained by shifting the wedgelet pattern size patternSize to the leftside by refShift.

According to the aspect of the invention, the region filling sectionsearches for a pixel in which the pattern is 1 and sets 1 in continuouspixels when there are the pixels in which the pattern is 1.

According to the aspect of the invention, the pattern storage sectionthat performs the matching determination on only the basic pattern andstores the rotation pattern without performing the matchingdetermination is further included.

According to the aspect of the invention, the first and second basicpatterns are generated by the basic pattern generation section, therotation patterns, the first to fourth rotation patterns, are generatedby the rotation pattern generation section, and the rotation pattern isgenerated based on an immediately previously generated pattern by therotation pattern generation section.

According to the aspect of the invention, when the number of patternsbefore generation of a pattern of a certain group is a starting positionposStart and the number of patterns−1 before generation of the rotationpattern is an ending position posEnd, the rotation pattern generationsection in the DMM prediction device generates the rotation pattern byrotation by the rotation pattern generation section with reference to apattern of each certain position pos from the starting position to theending position.

According to the aspect of the invention, the rotation patterngeneration section uses rotation of 90 degrees.

According to the aspect of the invention, with reference to a valuerefPattern[x+y][wBlkSize−1−x+y] of a reference pattern refPattern at aposition (x+y, wBlkSize−1−x+y) obtained by converting coordinates (x, y)by rotation of 90 degrees, the rotation pattern generation sectionderives a value Pattern[x][y] of the rotation pattern at the position of(x, y).

According to the aspect of the invention, the rotation patterngeneration section uses rotation of 270 degrees.

According to an aspect of the invention, an image decoding deviceincludes the above-described DMM prediction device.

According to an aspect of the invention, an image coding device includesthe above-described DMM prediction device.

The embodiment of the invention has been described above in detail withreference to the drawings, but specific configurations are not limitedto the above-described configurations. Various designs can be changedwithin the scope without departing from the gist of the invention.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

The invention can be applied to an image decoding device that decodescoded data obtained by coding image data and an image coding device thatgenerates coded data by coding image data. The invention can also beappropriately applied to a data structure of coded data generated by theimage coding device and referred to by the image decoding device.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   -   1 moving image decoding device (image decoding device)    -   11 variable-length decoding section    -   111 DC offset information decoding section    -   13 inverse quantization and inverse transform section    -   14 predicted image generation section    -   141 prediction unit setting section    -   142 reference pixel setting section    -   143 switch    -   144 reference pixel filtering section    -   145 predicted image derivation section    -   145D DC prediction section    -   145P planar prediction section    -   145A angular prediction section    -   145T DMM prediction section (DMM prediction device)    -   145T2 wedge pattern derivation section    -   145T3 DC prediction value derivation section    -   145T4, 145T4B wedgelet pattern generation section    -   145T5 wedge pattern table (buffer)    -   1461 basic pattern generation section    -   1462 line segment drawing section    -   1463 region filling section    -   1464, 1464′, 1464″ pattern storage section    -   1465, 1465′, 1465″, 1465B rotation pattern generation section    -   15 addition section    -   16 frame memory    -   2 moving image coding device (image coding device)    -   21 coding setting section    -   22 inverse quantization and inverse transform section    -   23 predicted image generation section    -   24 addition section    -   25 frame memory    -   26 subtraction section    -   27 transform and quantization section    -   29 coded data generation section

The invention claimed is:
 1. An image decoding device that decodes animage, comprising: wedge pattern derivation circuitry that derives awedge pattern indicating a partition pattern of a target block based onat least a wedge pattern table, a block size and a wedge pattern index;DC prediction value derivation circuitry that derives a predicted imageusing the partition pattern and a reference value; and wedgelet patterngeneration circuitry that derives a first wedgelet pattern and storesthe first wedge let pattern into the wedge pattern table in a case thata value of a wedge orientation is equal to 0 or 4 and derives a secondwedgelet pattern using the wedge pattern table in a case that the valueof the wedge orientation is equal to 1, 2, 3, or 5, wherein the value ofthe second wedgelet pattern with coordinates (x, y) is derived using avalue of the wedge pattern table with associated coordinates (i, j),wherein the associated coordinates (i, j) of the wedge pattern table areconverted coordinates obtained by converting the coordinates (x, y) ofthe second wedgelet pattern, and wherein the predicted image is used togenerate a decoded image.
 2. The image decoding device according toclaim 1, wherein the wedgelet pattern generation circuitry includes linesegment drawing circuitry and region filling circuitry.
 3. The imagedecoding device according to claim 1, wherein the associated coordinates(i, j) of the wedge pattern table are set equal to the convertedcoordinates (y, patternSize−1−x), where patternSize is a block size ofthe second wedgelet pattern.
 4. The image decoding device according toclaim 1, wherein the wedgelet pattern generation circuitry derives thesecond wedgelet pattern by 1 minus a value of the first wedge patterntable.
 5. The image decoding device according to claim 1, the wedgeletpattern generation circuitry sets a starting point (xS, yS) on a blockto a first point (m*sizeScaleS, 0), where the sizeScaleS is a variableand sets an ending point (xE, yE) on the block to a second point (0,n*sizeScaleE) or a third point (sizeScaleE, wBlkSize−1) according towhether the value of the wedge orientation being equal to 0, where thesizeScaleE is a variable and the wBlkSize is a bock size.
 6. The imagedecoding device according to claim 1, wherein the second wedgeletpattern is derived using an index, wherein the range of the index is avariable posStrat to the number of the wedge patterns minus 1 in thewedge pattern table.